Danny Boyle says Tories wanted to cut the NHS sequence from the 2012 Olympics
Director reveals he was 'forced to put [his] foot down' after 'stand-offs' with officials who wanted to scrap NHS section
DANNY Boyle has claimed his team was pressured to drop the sequence about the NHS in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.
The Brit director’s comments will be shown in a BBC documentary about the Olympics, and are likely to fuel suspicions that former Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is now Health Secretary, attempted to scrap the tribute to the National Health Service.
According to , Mr Hunt’s predecessor Tessa Jowell says: “I know that the new secretary of state [Mr Hunt took over in May, 2010]...wanted to be very hands on in the artistic content, and I think that was quite a tense time and Danny was absolutely clear that this was his show.”
Though Mr Hunt is not directly named, Mr Boyle is alleged to have told the programme: “We did have some stand-offs.
“The forces wanted us to cancel one of the sequences, cut the NHS sequences is what they wanted to cut.
“They wanted us to reduce that or cut it or make them just walk around the stadium.”
He continued: “That was against the very nature of what we’d built right from the very beginning.
“It wasn’t even just about a particular sequence, it was about all the volunteers, and if you make the kind of statement and involve them in the process, you are not going to then cut them at the end...so you have to put your foot down.”
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The shock claims come at a bad time for Mr Hunt, who is still fighting to introduce a new junior doctors’ contract.
The Health Secretary announced last week the contract will be imposed on all junior doctors by the end of 2017.
During 2012, it was claimed Government ministers tried to make changes to the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
At the time, a spokeswoman for the Health Secretary told the Mr Hunt “fully endorsed Danny Boyle’s vision, including the section celebrating the NHS.”
Responding to the latest claims, a spokesperson told The Times Mr Hunt’s “only concern in the planning was the length of the show – simply because we needed to be sure everyone would be able to get home safely.”
They added: “In common with people all around the world, Jeremy thought the London 2012 opening ceremony was both an extraordinary feat and a superb spectacle.”
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