ALAN SIMPSON

When I was a child there was a low wall not far from my nan’s house. It was lined with the nobbled ‘knuckles’ of what had once been an iron-railing fence. Her explanation of why this was all that remained was very matter of fact. “It went as part of the war effort” she told us.

It was one of the biggest infrastructure projects in human history. For much of the 1930’s, and at a cost of 3.3bn francs, France built itself a 900-mile network of tunnels, underground bunkers…

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.” (Greek proverb) Britain has 5.5 million men, and 6.5 million women, who are of pensionable age.

It is 4 years since the death of my friend and mentor, Tony Benn. I could argue that he turns up in every article I write, but that’s a poor substitute for the daily conversations into which he poured tea and optimism in equally copious quantities.

It was a message to warm the heart; a daughter thanking the care worker who took the time to dance with her dementia-suffering dad at the end of each home visit.

In a thought-provoking Guardian article – ‘As robots take our jobs, we need something else’ – George Monbiot argued that the the future for humanity lies in voluntary work…