00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Welcome to The Verdict on the Street, the show that
00:14 listens to its audience.
00:17 We're going to take some of the hottest topics
00:19 out onto the streets of Britain to ask you
00:22 what you think of them.
00:24 In a world that seems full of experts,
00:26 sometimes it's the opinions of the people on the street
00:29 that really matter.
00:30 So, great British public, it's over to you.
00:35 We send our reporters out into a number of cities across the UK,
00:38 armed only with a camera and a microphone
00:40 to ask simply, what do you think?
00:42 Here's what's coming up on this week's agenda.
00:48 The public gives its reaction after the shock announcement
00:51 that King Charles has cancer.
00:53 There's talk this week of raising the retirement age
00:55 again.
00:56 What's the perfect age to give up work?
00:58 And who are you looking forward to spending Valentine's Day
01:01 with this year, your partner or your pet?
01:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:06 Let's start this week with the shock news
01:08 that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer.
01:11 The King began regular treatments on Monday
01:13 and will postpone public duties during it,
01:15 Buckingham Palace has said.
01:17 Although he will pause his public events,
01:19 the King will continue with his constitutional role
01:21 as head of state, including paperwork and private meetings.
01:25 The King returned to London from Sandringham in Norfolk
01:28 and has started treatment as an outpatient.
01:31 The palace said that he'd chosen to go public about his cancer
01:34 treatment as he'd been patron of a number of cancer-related
01:36 charities when he was Prince of Wales.
01:39 Let's hear how some people we spoke to took the news.
01:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:46 I thought it was a joke, really.
01:47 I thought it was a practical joke.
01:48 I said, come on.
01:49 He just came back from hospital.
01:50 What are you saying that he's got cancer now?
01:52 Please, can you get out of here?
01:54 Then later I saw it.
01:55 Then I saw it on the main--
01:58 on the big-- I said, wow.
02:01 It was just unbelievable.
02:04 I think they've caught it in time.
02:07 And I hope they do, because I think he'll
02:09 make a wonderful King, Charles.
02:12 It's the longest apprenticeship in history
02:15 that he had to wait until his lovely mum died.
02:20 And she was in the hearts of millions of people.
02:24 And I'm sure he will eventually.
02:26 Perhaps not quite yet, but I think eventually.
02:30 He'd also gone public about his prostate treatment--
02:32 I am surprised that he is now able to tell the world
02:35 that he has cancer.
02:37 I think that is a good thing.
02:40 Do I think that excessive media coverage on exclusively
02:45 the royal family is a bit of a problem?
02:48 Yes.
02:48 And I think King Charles is one of many people who
02:53 is affected by cancer.
02:54 And if this can serve as a bit of a public reminder
02:58 of the impacts that such a diagnosis has,
03:04 then that's nothing but a good thing.
03:06 Really surprised, especially as now
03:10 that we recently knew some of the rumors
03:13 of the condition of Kate.
03:18 I was-- yeah, I was surprised.
03:19 And I felt pity of him.
03:21 And I was sad about it.
03:23 I think it's very sensible, apparently.
03:25 It was the grandfather wasn't even
03:28 told by his doctors that he had cancer and died.
03:32 So yeah, it just makes it more normal for everybody
03:36 to think about.
03:37 First of all, I think it's really good
03:39 that he's come out to public with everything.
03:42 Sometimes they keep everything to themselves
03:44 and we don't hear anything.
03:45 And I know first of all, he said that he was really--
03:49 he wanted to make sure men sort of being aware of
03:52 with prostate sort of stuff.
03:54 So that was a good start.
03:55 And then obviously after that, then that's
03:57 when they found his cancer.
03:58 I'm not a royalist, but I wouldn't
04:00 want to wish anybody ill.
04:01 So I hope he's all right really quickly
04:03 because at the end of the day, he's a human.
04:06 And he don't wish any ill health on anybody.
04:08 Well, he's done it and he's brave to do this.
04:11 And I think he will recover.
04:14 So we give him our best wishes.
04:18 He's got convictions on the environment.
04:22 And not everybody agrees with him,
04:24 but I think he talks a lot of sense.
04:27 He's a similar age to myself.
04:30 And so God bless him.
04:32 And I wish him all the best and his family, obviously.
04:36 I know Harry's coming over to see him.
04:38 And I have a lot of time for him.
04:42 And I wish him all the best.
04:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:48 Next up, the retirement age will
04:53 have to rise to 71 for middle-aged workers
04:56 across the UK, according to research
04:58 into the impact of growing life expectancy
05:01 and falling birth rates on the state pension.
05:04 The UK pension age of 66 is set to rise to 67 between May
05:09 2026 and March 2028.
05:12 And then from 2044, it's expected to rise to 68.
05:17 So what do you think of the prospects
05:19 of you having to work for a lot longer than you planned?
05:22 And are you ever going to get a retirement that you can enjoy?
05:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:28 As for the retirement age, I don't
05:30 know why they should have to keep bringing it up,
05:32 raising the age, right?
05:34 Because by the time people reach that age,
05:37 most women are not going to make it.
05:39 They just pass away.
05:42 Or it's too much stress in the world today.
05:45 I'm 79.
05:47 I worked until I was 75.
05:51 And if I hadn't been forcibly retired with my business being
05:54 sold from under my feet, I would have probably still
05:57 been working now.
06:00 65, when I was a youngster, you were old.
06:06 People were old.
06:08 But 65 now, no.
06:11 I think it's a very, very good idea.
06:13 I think it will be terrible for some professions.
06:16 Some people don't really want to give up work, and that's fine.
06:20 But I was a primary school teacher.
06:23 I wouldn't want to be crawling around on the floor at 71.
06:27 No, I think it's very unfair.
06:31 Of course it is a bad move.
06:32 It's an awful move.
06:33 It's terrible.
06:35 You should get a lot of people--
06:37 old people should be able to retire a lot earlier.
06:39 And then it's going to free up a lot more vacancies
06:41 for a lot more other people to be able to do these jobs.
06:44 And then we can actually look after old people properly.
06:46 Obviously, it's tricky.
06:47 They might want to raise their retirement age
06:49 because then they'd have to pay for care homes
06:51 or that kind of thing.
06:53 But it's insane.
06:55 Currently, I think it's 67.
06:57 And I'm like 39.
06:58 I'm thinking that I will be working 24 or 25 more years.
07:02 And then even on top of that extra four,
07:04 no, that's going to have a huge impact, I think,
07:07 in people's life.
07:09 Well, having just hit the current retirement age
07:11 myself last December, which is 66 at the moment,
07:15 I'm now in a quandary whether to retire or not because
07:17 of the cost of living increase.
07:19 A lot of people are being forced to stay on in any case.
07:22 So maybe this projected rise in the retirement age
07:26 might not have a big effect on people.
07:28 My mom, she's-- God bless her.
07:30 She's like-- she's 65, 60.
07:32 She's-- I don't know how old she is.
07:35 She's coming up to retirement.
07:36 But 70 years old, 70 years of age, I don't know.
07:39 I mean, can people really do that?
07:41 I don't know.
07:42 There's plenty of money about when they need it,
07:44 like giving it to Ukraine or helping other people out.
07:47 There's billions.
07:48 And they get to the DUP in Northern Ireland.
07:50 There's always money there.
07:51 But it's always a way of squeezing the people more
07:54 who don't have money.
07:55 And things go up and up and up.
07:57 And really, it's the way society is kind of arranged.
08:00 And it's a rigged system, really, against the people
08:02 at the poorest.
08:03 I think we should just be a bit more like France
08:06 and maybe try and put our word in a bit more,
08:09 because France seems to have put the foot down in protest.
08:12 But we just seem to say, OK.
08:17 I think that's a bit high.
08:18 I think they're just trying to work us all to death
08:22 and save some money on pension, aren't they?
08:25 Yeah.
08:26 Basically, all it is.
08:29 Yeah.
08:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:34 Finally, for many people, their soul mate is their beloved pet.
08:38 And a survey of 1,300 owners found
08:40 that pets can actually make you happier than your partner.
08:44 So which would you rather spend this Valentine's Day with?
08:46 I mean, I love Valentine's Days.
08:51 It's just-- it's another day when
08:54 you can tell your loved person you love them,
08:56 you care for them, you appreciate them,
08:58 you do stuff for them to show them you really care.
09:02 I love pets.
09:03 I've got two cats.
09:05 I mean, they make my life a nightmare sometimes.
09:07 But I love them either way.
09:08 I would do anything for them.
09:09 And I love my wife because I'm married.
09:11 So I love my wife.
09:12 I would do anything for her, especially on Valentine's Days
09:14 or any other day.
09:15 I don't care really about doing something special
09:18 on Valentine's Days.
09:19 I try to do it every day.
09:20 So every day, I try to do something special for her.
09:22 Every day, I try to ask her, what can I do more for her?
09:25 Like, because every day, she does so much for me.
09:27 I'll never be able to repay her for everything
09:30 that she does for me.
09:31 So every day, I try to do more for her.
09:35 I definitely know people that really love their pets.
09:39 I personally prefer my partner to a pet, for example.
09:46 Yeah, I could see why, if you've got a really cute dog,
09:51 that you would probably prefer spending time with them
09:53 than your partner.
09:54 But I personally prefer my partner to my dog.
09:57 Yes!
09:59 Would you agree with that?
10:00 Yes.
10:02 I think so.
10:03 Well, a pet's never going to let you down, is it?
10:06 And it's always loving and caring and everything, girls.
10:11 Partners, well, partners are partners, aren't they?
10:14 So it is.
10:15 Your pet's going to always be there
10:17 until they have to pass on.
10:19 But a Valentine's Day, I think, is--
10:21 I don't know.
10:22 I think there's a lot of expectations from people.
10:25 And I don't.
10:26 I just go, yeah, it's Valentine's Day.
10:27 Fine.
10:28 I haven't got a pet at the moment.
10:29 So I'm going to have to say I'm a partner.
10:33 I think it's-- well, that's a difficult one, isn't it?
10:35 Because obviously, pets, they can't tell you
10:37 when they need something.
10:38 And your partners do.
10:39 And also, hopefully, your pets are kind of loyal all the time.
10:42 And they are there.
10:43 And it's unconditional.
10:45 And they don't ask you to do the washing up.
10:48 So maybe the pets.
10:50 Yeah, I think we do need somebody in our life.
10:53 We should be sharing our lives with other people.
10:55 So yeah, I'm still all for love.
10:57 Valentine's Day, not so fussed about that day.
11:00 It should be more about what you do all year round.
11:02 It should be specific to one day.
11:04 So yeah, I think it's a good thing.
11:08 But pets have their place.
11:10 But my pet would come before my partner.
11:12 My partner is my person.
11:14 They come first.
11:16 My big love of my life is my daughter.
11:19 She's called Alessia.
11:21 And we used to have a dog.
11:25 She called Mia.
11:26 But she's passing away two years ago.
11:29 Still very hurt.
11:31 So the pet is sometimes more--
11:35 give more love than the people.
11:38 So I can't have another dog because it's still hurt.
11:43 So I can't cope with this again.
11:47 Now we have a cat.
11:48 It's called Shark.
11:49 And here we go.
11:50 This is the family.
11:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:55 [MUSIC ENDS]
11:58 (upbeat music)
