I realise I haven’t mentioned the Olympics or opening ceremonies for quite a while (and whatever regular readers I have will probably be thinking ‘tfft’) but I recently started to wonder, if a british city was to host an olympic games again soon, what would the opening and closing ceremonies look like?  Thinking back to 2012, the entire country was united  behind London; we all came together to put on a magnificent show. Now, just seven years on, the uk feels like a completely different place: half of us can’t stand the other half, or think they’re morons for being fooled into voting for something completely antithetical to their best interests; the papers spew the most vile hate every day; the whole country feels far, far darker. If  olympic  ceremonies indeed reflect nations, what would the opening ceremony look like if London was hosting the olympics again this summer? Instead of James Bond escorting the queen to the ceremony in a helicopter, Farage would have to escort her there in his Rolls Royce under armed guard for fear of being attacked by thugs. Rather than a tribute to  the NHS, there would be a homage to american health insurance companies called ‘Give  it a Try’. And instead of having the Chaos Choir sing it would have to be the choir from Eaton, as it seems we no longer cherish diversity and only the rich and privileged can be allowed to succeed.

I know I may be sounding overly grumpy, but what I’m  trying to say is the country has changed since 2012, and not at all for the better. I’m worried about it: we’ve become more inward looking and more divided. I remember the spring and summer of 2012 and how great it felt to be a londoner that year. It was around this time that we first began to hear rumours that Bond was going to be involved. The contrast to the atmosphere in the country now is chilling, and I’m worried it will be a very long time before it is restored.