Thursday, October 30: A manifesto for older people

Do not call them "golden oldies". It's patronising and insulting.

Older people are citizens - and they are demanding that their voices are heard at next year's general election.

Brighton and Hove has a reputation as a young and vibrant city. But slivers of superficial truth risk distracting us from a harsher reality: for many people, the "place to be" can be a difficult place to live.

It is true we have proportionately fewer older people (13%) than the regional and national averages - 17% and 16%, respectively. The number of older people has declined - but it is expected increase again, reaching about 40,000 people (13.8% of the population) by 2021.

And older people in some key wards in Brighton and Hove - particularly with their greater propensity to vote - could exert a decisive influence on May 7 2015.

Brighton and Hove Independent is pleased to support an important meeting of older people at the Brighthelm Centre later this month.

Paul Philo, one of the organisers of the October 30 meeting, said: "Across the country, in many places - but not, until now, in Brighton and Hove - older people have been well represented by the National Pensioners Convention (NPC).

"The NPC is a campaigning organisation that supports older people's aims, such as a liveable state pension and the retention of rights like bus passes. Older people put into the economy much more than they take out.

"Now is the time - before the manifestos have been solidified - for older people to put pressure on the political parties to represent their aims.'

If you want to know more about how your candidates for government stand on these and other issues of interest to older people, come to the NPC Hustings at 6.30pm on Thursday, October 30, at the Brighthelm Centre, North Road, Brighton.

Speakers will include Nancy Platts, Labour's parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown; Clarence Mitchell, the Conservative Party candidate for Brighton Pavilion; and and Davy Jones, the Green Party candidate for Brighton Kemptown. Andy Winter, chief executive of BHT (Brighton Housing Trust) will be the chair; Dot Gibson, the NPC's national secretary, will introduce the speakers.