In last week’s Takimag column, Dr. Dalrymple observes the difference in mask compliance among metro passengers in London and Paris, before reflecting on the stunning efficacy of NHS propaganda over the past half century.

The government was able to get away with so ludicrous a slogan because of one of the most successful propaganda campaigns of the second half of the 20th century, namely that the institution of the National Health Service was a great social advance. It was nothing of the kind: Before it was founded, the country had one of the best health systems in the developed world and soon found itself with among the worst.