Caine

 It's not only the poets who are getting older (spoiler alert: we all are). Last night, for some reason, I was looking up Michael Caine, and discovered that he is all of 93. I've always liked Caine, who seems to be that rare thing among actors, a proper mensch, a regular guy. I wondered if he'd made an appearance on this blog – and sure enough he had, on this very day in 2009 (yes, the blog is that old, and older). Here's the post:

Quote of the Day

'We've got three and a half million layabouts laying about on benefits, and I'm 76, getting up at 6am to go to work to keep them.' Sir Michael Caine, telling it like it is.
The British 'welfare state' has turned into a national disaster, perpetuating poverty, idleness and dependence - at huge and ever-growing expense. It's a model that could only work in a nation with a strong, homogeneous identity and sense of common cause, and a strong work ethic. None of which apply to modern Britain.
See also De Tocqueville's Memoir on Pauperism, and Corelli Barnett's The Audit of War.

I rather hope Sir Michael is not taking too keen an interest in the state of the nation these days, when there are around ten million people of working age (not all layabouts, of course) on benefits – a situation that is in large part a legacy of the insane policy of 'lockdown'.
Don't tell Caine – it might finish him off.