Danny Boyle, the director and choreographer of the spectacular opening ceremony for the London Olympic Games must be an infiltrator from the Labour old school i.e. before Tony Blair and his oft-discredited Third Way. Either that, or he’s suffering from typically British nostalgia. It’s the only explanation for the fantastic homage he paid during the ceremony to the British National Health Service. It was a real pleasure to see dozens of nurses dancing like professionals while a crowd of children jumped up and down on their hospital beds in the middle of an Olympic stadium. This at a time when the United Kingdom, like so many other countries, is seeing its great post-war achievement, free public healthcare for all, put at risk by reforms. There was a time when the National Health Service, created in 1946 by the liberal William Beveridge and supported by the Labour Party, was the pride of the British people for the quality of its facilities. This was true until the Iron Lady, now an old woman beset by Alzheimer’s, proclaimed that society didn’t exist; there were only individuals. The director Boyle’s moving and exciting tribute was aimed not only at his fellow countrymen but the rest of the world which, in contrast to the Republican Party in North America, believes that free, universal healthcare, or rather healthcare paid for jointly by society, is a great achievement of modern society that should never be given up because of a lack of fellowship, indifference, or pure selfishness. The voluntary contribution of young patients and nurses from a children’s hospital like Great Ormond Street, one of the great paediatric centres in the world volunteerism is another great traditional virtue of the British people is an excellent example of the importance of the National Health Service to the country. And it was especially beautiful to see the homage to healthcare staff combined with one to great British children’s literature, personified by popular characters such as Mary Poppins or authors such as JK Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, a big Labour supporter, who also read out a small fragment from Peter Pan. Otherwise the ceremony showed Britain’s marvellous capacity for laughing at itself; with a gag featuring the Queen and James Bond in a helicopter, whilst simultaneously promoting the country’s powerful brand with artists from many different genres; from David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Queen and the Sex Pistols to classical music, with the great orchestra director Simon Rattle, cinema with James Craig, or comedy with Rowan Atkinson, the popular Mr. Bean.
