The Labour government of Britain in 1945 had won a massive mandate to take leading industries into public ownership. The fact that the National Health Service remains the last of those services not to be farmed out to private enterprise is a bitter fact of history.

With archive footage and contemporary interviews with people who contributed to the creation of The Welfare State, Loach celebrates the progressive thinking and community spirit of the time. Spirit of ’45 is a pointed put down for modern detractors of the NHS, and a celebration of people determined to build a better society.

This film is screening as part of our Ken Loach retrospective (May & June). Loach’s latest film, Jimmy’s Hall, opens at the IFI on May 30th.