The spectacle of politicians ‘reaching out’ to younger people is a strangely persistent image which never ceases to be a painful viewing experience each time it is repeated. Whether bicycling to the Commons (with or without a tie), embracing the sartorial elegance of the baseball cap or appearing in a music video, the efforts of political parties and government to appeal to and understand ‘youth’ rest upon a confusion about what actually matters to Britain’s younger people.

Effectively, the emerging obsession amongst the political parties with this section of society can be characterised by two trends. The first is the acknowledgement of demographic realities; within itself an understandable basis for developing specific policy initiatives. The second is the largely incorrect assumption that somehow younger people require a special policy agenda.

Britain’s younger voters probably don’t view themselves as being part of a ‘youth bloc’ so there is little point in developing a specific policy agenda for an undefined and probably indefinable group. The needs of the affluent young are far removed from those of the struggling young. There are a number of specific policy areas in which younger people can benefit from government schemes and initiatives but to view these as being of special relevance or importance to young people is entirely wrong.

Where there is need and where government can help there is a moral obligation for government to act. In areas where young families are trying and failing to get onto the housing ladder government has a role in intervening and making affordable housing available. Where there are barriers to employment opportunities due to the lack of affordable childcare, government should intervene. Where the poorest younger sections of society require financial assistance to go to university, government should provide it, but youth in itself should not determine entitlement.

Irrespective of age, the benefits and opportunities of progressive policies and progressive government should be available to every section of society. The re-married, middle aged long term unemployed man or woman who has just re-entered the world of work deserves the same level of assistance in finding affordable housing and childcare as the average twenty or thirty something.

Younger people want excellent schools, a first class health service free at the point of need, safer neighbourhoods, action to protect the environment and perhaps most of all a stable and growing economy.

Fundamentally, they demand a society within which they can achieve their full potential and which will care for them and their families when they need cared for. Younger Britons demand fair and proper pension provision – not just for themselves but for their parents and grandparents; they understand that inter-generational equity is about social justice. The aspirations of younger people are common to almost every other section of our society and government should enable the fulfillment of these aspirations.

The government’s progressive policy agenda in all of these areas is suited to the needs of every section of society, not just the young.

To paraphrase Robert Kennedy, youth is "not a time of life but a state of mind". The policies which benefit young people are the policies which benefit us all.