THE GUARDIAN: At 85, the actor has lived through much political upheaval. But, she writes, today’s hostile times feel like ‘the worst yet’. She reflects on her journey from teenage Tory to full-throated leftist – and says there’s still time to save the nation from the bad guys
Afunny thing happened on the way to 2026: I got old and the world turned nasty. It happened very quickly and it’s to do with politics (the world) and pelvic floor weakness (mine). It’s strange being this old. Sometimes when I look in the mirror, it’s a shock to see wrinkles and grey hair, because inside I am still that naughty Oxford High School girl, risking detention just for the joy of entertaining her friends. People assume that with great age comes great wisdom, but actually we remain who we have always been, only more so, and we need to make our peace with that and with each other.
The Britain I grew up in, though – that feels almost unrecognisable, and everyone I speak to says the same thing. The historian Eric Hobsbawm, whom I knew and loved, argued that people invent the past they want for their own purposes – that the real past was quite different: “Today is the great age of historical mythology.” He’s right, but that past is still the safe haven I’d like to return to. People feel adrift, they don’t understand or feel a connection to the place they thought they knew.
Now at 85, I look around at my remaining friends and at my unique relationship with a woman of different qualities but luckily the same politics. In many ways I’m having the time of my life: I’ve never been richer or more in demand. And yet my heart is heavy with foreboding …
My postwar generation lived through the rise and fall of many things: the Berlin Wall, Winston Churchill, the European Union, the NHS, the Beatles, Profumo, Elizabeth II, the Great Train Robbery, the pill, the IRA, Margaret Thatcher, the Falklands war, Black Monday and Grenfell, heart transplants, driverless cars, Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic. But this feels the worst time yet.
The things we took for granted – free speech, the Post Office, our local bank, even the home telephone – are disappearing. The US is an enemy. Evil oligarchs and their influence stalk the world, my world, your world. In recent times, the archbishop of Canterbury resigned and north London Jews are afraid to wear a Magen David (Shield or Star of David) necklace outside their homes for fear of being attacked. You’re brave to open your mouth these days. Indeed, many have demanded I keep mine shut. But I can’t. The present has become threatening, hostile and unwelcoming to us – much as our shores must feel to asylum seekers, as they scramble for a foothold in our United Kingdom. It also feels as though the country of my birth has lost its heart. How did we get here? » | Miriam Margolyes | Sunday, August 23, 2026
