Joanna Lumley: we're raising lazy children with no morals

[Ed: I think this is what CS Lewis meant by 'men without chests', see 'The Abolition of Man'.]

The actress and campaigner said that today's youth "find it laughably amusing to shoplift and steal" and take little responsibility for their actions. In Africa, by contrast, children as young as seven are sent out to work and carry responsibility for their family's livelihood.

Lumley, 64, said society had changed for the worse since she was a child.

"There was one 'crime' during the whole time I was at school, when a fountain pen went missing. Stealing just didn't happen. I was taught not to shoplift, not to steal, not to behave badly. We weren't even allowed to drop litter," she said.

"We are very slack with our moral codes for children these days. Nowadays, children find it laughably amusing to shoplift and steal. We smile when they download information from the internet and lazily present it as their own work. We allow them to bunk off school and bring in sick notes. Read more