Age-old question left unanswered

These three, related issues are all themes that currently preoccupy the main political parties because senior citizens are far more likely to vote in the forthcoming election than younger generations. In this sense, the "grey vote" has never assumed greater importance.

Yet, conversely, senior citizens, or people approaching retirement age, have never been treated with more contempt.

These are not new issues. They were all pressing matters when Labour came to power in 1997. And they are even more urgent now because of the failure of the Government to face up to the financial challenges created by Britain's demographic changes.

They will also not be solved by the Health Secretary's lame, and failed, attempt to provide further clarity about the proposed remit of the much-vaunted national care service, and whether a so-called "death tax" would be a more practical way of funding care needs than the insurance-led scheme advocated by the Conservatives.

Age-related issues continue to be subjected to a distinct lack of urgency – and yesterday's White Paper is no exception. The proposed changes will not come into power during the lifetime of the next Parliament if Labour is re-elected. An universal service would only become operational "after 2015" – at least two elections from now.

The solution, in the meantime, is yet another commission to examine a raft of proposals in greater detail, and consider the validity of concerns, expressed by the likes of Lord Warner, the former health minister, that the plans are unaffordable.

It's the same with pensions, another issue left in abeyance, and the commissioning of new drugs to ease the suffering of those with conditions like arthritis. There have been enough commissions and talking shops to prove, decisively, that such bodies are no substitute for real policy.

In conclusion, two things can be said with certainty. These matters are not going away. And the longer that they are left unreformed, the more difficult it will become to implement lasting and real change.