It's a harsh reality with which to come to terms, but in these days when self-interest rules, those who seek a fair deal for all of society seemed doomed to failure.

Far better, perhaps, to decide which social group you belong to and press for changes which will see it get a better share of whatever's going.

That's the view older people are starting to take. However, they're being a lot slower in Britain than they are in the US to latch on to the fact that they have rather a lot of power.

In the States, apparently, older people are starting to call the shots in a big way. Because there are plenty of them, they have a huge amount of voting clout. They have economic power. They are forcing changes in the laws and attitudes because they are making a lot of noise.

The same thing isn't yet happening in this country - at least, not to that degree. But seniors are starting to realise that they shouldn't have to put up with a pathetic increase in the basic pension; that they shouldn't be sidelined by some doctors and hospitals when it comes to operations and treatment; that they shouldn't have their life's investment, in their house, hijacked to pay for nursing-home care that they thought they'd already paid for through their taxes....That they should, in fact, be given rather more respect and consideration.

Latest attack which demands a "grey power" response is the loss of the married couple's tax allowance from April. This will affect everyone born after April 5, 1935 - which includes all those now on the threshold of retirement at 65 and quite a lot of people who have taken early retirement and may well rely on that tax allowance to help to provide them with a few treats.

At present only a third of pensioners pay tax. The loss of the allowance is bound to push more of them above the tax threshold.

Those now 65 and over will continue to enjoy the benefits of the married couple's allowance, which is worth £197 a year - creating yet another division in the ranks of seniors to set alongside the free TV licence for older pensioners but not for younger ones.

That latter move is rather different, though. People who survive long enough will reach "free licence" age eventually. Those who lose the couple's tax allowance will lose it forever.

So maybe now's the time to follow the example of American seniors and start making a lot of noise. If the married couple's allowance is going - which in itself is an appalling attack on the institution of marriage - then let it be only for the working lifetime, and let's see it restored once retirement arrives.

I Don't Believe It!

What do you think about wheelie bins? According to the letters which have been appearing in the T&A, people either love them or hate them.

Peter Diggles is one of those who hates them. He phoned Mike Priestley with a message for me to that effect. He says they have been foisted on Bradford.

Mr Diggles, now 71, knows something about refuse collection. He worked on the bins for 30 years, so he's able to look at the wheelie-bin situation with something of an expert eye.

His point is that while the bins might be fine for people who live in houses with drives, they are no good for the many narrow terraced streets that fill so many parts of the city.

"You've got to leave them standing out at the front of the house, on the pavement, or keep them at the back and then get up early either to drag them through the house or pull them up the back, around the end of the terrace, and down the front again every week," he said.

"The people of Bradford have been railroaded. They've had it imposed on them, and they just accept it. These bins are all over the place. They're obscene."

Mr Diggles' belief is that cutting costs by cutting jobs is the main reason the wheelie bins have been introduced.

"Just wait and see," he says. "The next thing will be that the Council will say 'These bins are a good thing. They hold a lot. In fact, they hold so much that we could let them go for a fortnight before emptying them'."

He could be right. My main objection to wheelie bins is that they're big and ugly. Mrs Mildew agrees. We haven't got them yet in our area, and she says she doesn't want one of them stuck down the side of the house at Mildew Mansions.

Our present dustbin is tucked away out of sight behind a bush in a big pot. But that bush won't hide a wheelie bin. It'll tower over it. We'll have to replace it with a tree instead. Why can't things go on as they always have done?

If you have a gripe about anything, drop a line to me, Hector Mildew, c/o Newsroom, T&A, Hall Ings, Bradford BD1 1JR, email me or leave any messages for me with Mike Priestley on (44) 0 1274 729511.

Yours Expectantly,

Hector Mildew

Enjoy Mike Priestley's Yorkshire Walks

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.