At 85, the actor has lived through much political upheaval. But, she writes, today\u2019s hostile times feel like \u2018the worst yet\u2019. She reflects on her journey from teenage Tory to full-throated leftist \u2013 and says there\u2019s still time to save the nation from the bad guys<\/p>\n
A funny thing happened on the way to 2026: I got old and the world turned nasty. It happened very quickly and it\u2019s to do with politics (the world) and pelvic floor weakness (mine). It\u2019s strange being this old. Sometimes when I look in the mirror, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The Britain I grew up in, though \u2013 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 \u2013 that the real past was quite different: \u201cToday is the great age of historical mythology.\u201d He\u2019s right, but that past is still the safe haven I\u2019d like to return to. People feel adrift, they don\u2019t understand or feel a connection to the place they thought they knew.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e509de0442d1186d93b616d1af2794cc515e5641\/1733_1820_8293_6634\/master\/8293.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=49662b1eedf1ec35013db25c821b886d\" "\\"\u2018The")
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