Kenny MacAskill: Why baby boomers owe a debt to millennials

My generation did get satisfaction and now we owe millennials the same, writes Kenny MacAskill.

Tackling inequality within our society and between the hemispheres is rightly supported by many.

But, just as important is inequality between the generations, which was recently raised by the Resolution Foundation. Now I rarely find myself agreeing with Tory Peers but on this occasion, I am fully behind Lord Willetts and even cheering him on. He’s a clever man – dubbed “two brains” when a Government Minister – but he’s also showing that he’s a just man.

Much of the reporting and a great deal of the factual information portrayed this as a battle between millennials and baby boomers. Nothing’s ever straightforward and many baby boomers are far from wealthy, just as there are some high-rolling millennials but there’s still a clear generational divide. Statistics produced by the organisation clearly showed that and it’s this wider disparity which needs addressed.

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For Lord Willetts that means a change in taxation, with the older generation bearing more of the burden and the younger generation contributing less. Now he’s normally been a man more associated with calls for reduction rather than increases in tax, and for that reason alone he should be listened to, but again he’s right.

Taxes on inheritance from those who have benefited need to be increased and the burden on those working to look after us in our dotage needs lessened. It won’t be simple and will have to be general rather than specific, as it’s dealing with huge cross-sections of society, but it must be done.