Mark Andrews: Personally, I blame those dress-down Fridays

Predictably, it found under 25s were obsessed with faddish identity politics.

"The older generation are less educated in things to do with gender or race, or they're just ignorant," observed 23-year-old student Farah, taking great care not to stereotype anyone.

Of course they do. When you are 18, it is hard to comprehend why older people are so stupid. And by the time you reach 30, they seem much wiser, presumably because they have been listening to you and learning from your example.

* * *

What is disturbing is the attitude of a sizeable minority of young people towards work.

A third of under-25s surveyed said they were unwilling to work full-time in an office.

Ishola, another 23-year-old student, reckoned the working week should be 10am to 4pm, Monday to Thursday.

"I don't think a human should be working five days out of seven," he said.

Becca, 24, said that after 4pm her brain could take no more.

* * *

Personally, I think the rot set in with dress-down Fridays. Once you start relaxing the rules, treating Fridays as the start of the weekend, it is inevitable that people will think it's OK to wind down.

Then we had Greta Thunberg telling kids not to go to school on Fridays, encouraged by vacuous politicians eager to burnish their woke credentials. Add to that the work-from-home culture caused by lockdown, and it is not surprising impressionable young people think going to work is a breach of their human rights.

* * *

Of course, many hard-working young people will read this and tear their hair out, saying 'not in my name'. It is so often the vocal minority that gets everybody else a bad name.

But those who feel they have a right to work only when they feel like it may need to reconsider what they want out of life. Do they want to own their own home? Well the only way they are going to do that is through hard graft. And if they really care as much about the environment as they say, they would do well to remember that it will be the hard work of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs – not protesters– who will deliver sustainable energy and low-carbon technology for a greener future.