The symbols of Britishness which loomed so large in these games — the anthem and the flag — are the very things on which the Left have waged a war over the past 40 years. It's a war in which they have continually tried to recruit to their cause ethnic minorities in whom they have attempted, through culture, education and public policy-making, to instil a sense of victimhood and hostility.

So it is particularly nauseating to see their attempt to sidestep the fact that much of London was covered in red, white and blue last month, and to claim a cultural victory. This was not some "new" patriotism. It was simply the patriotism that has always been there, but which, having been effectively kept under lock and key, has this year had a real opportunity with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics to express itself.