Danny Boyle's Olympic opener strengthens national pride in the arts

The 2012 London Olympics has brought together the best technical and creative minds of the British film industry, and Danny Boyle's opener has clearly strengthened the 'national pride' in the arts.

It was a night that put the UK's top recognised talents in the spotlight, but the stakes had been very high, and the anticipation was that it would not top, or even come close to the Chinese opening. Critics were dead wrong, including Mitt Romney, who got a slap in the face from virtually every person in the UK regarding his comments.

However, back to the point about the arts. The UK has suffered a deep recession and we've seen the arts budget reduced by 30% since 2010. It's been a difficult time for performers, and arts institutions, but with the BFI investing more lottery money into production, a turnaround is just what we need. Putting money aside, the national pride of watching performers, from music to cinema come together was heartwarming.

The Queen's involvement, Daniel Craig's cunning, Rowan Atkinson's silliness and even Dizzie Rascal's rapping put smiles on faces everywhere. Can we now make the UK an international hub of creation in the world? There's no better time than now to make a big impact.