Cameron sees 'ageing UK' benefits

Mr Cameron also met "silver surfers" in Hackney

An attitude change is needed to ensure Britain's ageing population is a boost not a burden to the economy, says Conservative leader David Cameron.

In a speech to Age Concern he said that as 11m baby boomers became pensioners, Britain would undergo a "big change".

"We have to make sure this is an opportunity, a benefit... rather than a cost," Mr Cameron told the BBC.

One in six British people is currently aged 65 or over, but that is expected to rise to one in four within 30 years.

We have to change our approach and our attitude and our behaviour towards older people David Cameron

Mr Cameron said over-50s who continue to work could boost the economy by as much as £30 billion - helping to offset the cost of additional care for an ageing population.

But he said a cultural change was needed - particularly among employers, the NHS and local government - in the way society viewed and behaved towards older people.

"We have to change our approach and our attitude and our behaviour towards older people in order to reap the benefits of an older and more mature society," he said.

Mr Cameron told Age Concern he was not in favour of free long term care for the elderly in England and Wales - which is available in Scotland.

Funding was currently geared towards residential care - but that was not the answer for everyone, he said, and he would rather help carers to look after the elderly at home.

Vague assurances that the Conservatives want to befriend voters over the age of 55 will not wash Nick Clegg Lib Dems

"I think the partnership approach [between individuals and government] is the right approach to establishing a system where no-one is forced to sell their homes," he said.

Mr Cameron was also asked about an Ipsos Mori survey for the Financial Times, which suggested his approval rating had slipped - particularly among women voters.

"If I reacted to every poll, I would be in a right old mess," he told the BBC, about the poll in which 2,014 were interviewed face-to-face between October 12 and 16.

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton said Mr Cameron's message "varies depending on which audience he's speaking to".

He said the New Deal had helped 100,000 older people back into work, but had been opposed by Mr Cameron. Mr Hutton said 1.75m more older people were in work now, than there had been in 1997.

For the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg MP said: "Vague assurances that the Conservatives want to befriend voters over the age of 55 will not wash.

"Baby boomers facing retirement, and those already in retirement, are too savvy to accept platitudes when concrete commitments are needed."