Richard Reeves on a hard-hitting account of the generation that took the houses, jobs and welfare – and is having all the fun
David Willetts is a rare creature. Britain does not produce many public intellectuals. To find one lurking deep in the jungle of Westminster politics is little short of an anthropological miracle. But with this book, Willetts, a frontline Conservative politician, has confirmed his status as the thinking person's MP.
The Pinch sets out to show how the baby boomers – those, like Willetts, who were born between 1945 and 1965 – have "stolen their children's future" through their cultural, demographic and political dominance. Willetts does not quite succeed in proving this charge of intergenerational theft. But in marshalling his case he takes you on such a fascinating journey through British society that you do not feel remotely shortchanged.
His stated thesis is that the big generation of boomers has concentrated wealth, adopted a hegemonic position over national culture and failed to attend to the needs of the future. They have, in effect, broken the inter-generational contract. It is certainly true that the boomers have done well out of the welfare state, being...
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