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Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud. I'm Lyndon Ken Carran, part of the Spectator's

broadcast team, and each week we choose our

favourite pieces from the magazine and ask our writers to read them aloud. Coming up on the podcast this

week, Kate Andrews on the NHS and the celebrations that marked its 75th birthday. We hear from

Igor Toronni Lalich in Marseilles, watching with interest as the riots

happen around him. And Ivo Dornay describes how being related to Boris is cramping his style.

First up, Kate Andrews. It's a rare occasion that sees politicians put aside their feuds and

rivalries to gather together at Westminster Abbey.

These moments are limited to weddings, coronations, funerals, and the National Health

Service's birthday. This week, the Prime Minister, the opposition leader, and a sprinkling of

royals joined together to mark the NHS's 75th anniversary, singing hymns and giving thanks for a system that, according to the latest

report, deliver some of the worst outcomes for patients in Europe. The George Cross, presented to the

NHS by Queen Elizabeth last year, was brought to the high altar at the start of the service.

Rishi Sunak and Kirstammer gave readings, while Amanda Pritchard briefly traded her title of

NHS England's chief executive for honorary vicar, as she delivered an address.

The dean's sermon spoke of hope, not a hope in God, but rather the hope that is the NHS.

But these public benedictions are increasingly clashing with private despair, as politicians

come to terms with the many failures of the NHS model. The public policy area and most need

of reform is also the one they know they cannot touch. No one will have enjoyed that, says

one former health official familiar with preparing ministers for the big birthday celebrations.

The praise for our NHS has always looked a little odd. Now it looks delusional.

...