Best of Sir Humphrey Appleby - Yes Minister Part 3

but how can it possibly be a secret it's so huge it's a big secret Bernhard Bernhard the Official Secrets Act does not protect secrets to protect officials Bernhard ministers should never know more than they need to know then they can't tell anyone like secret agents they could be captured and tortured you mean by terrorists by the BBC burner this is a bit of a cover-up isn't it certainly not burner it is responsible discretion exercised in the national interest to prevent unnecessary disclosure of eminently justifiable procedures in which untimely revelation could severely impair public confidence I see well shall we say he's unlikely to fulfill his financial undertakings to Her Majesty's Government you see the ideal quango appointee is a black Welsh disabled woman trades unionist well all looking around for one of them no keeping something from me aren't you yes indeed aha it is the department's duty to protect the minister from the great tide of irrelevant information that beats against the walls of this department day after day what did you think of it little bit about ending a scandal of ministerial patronage all those thousands of jobs for the boys most original and imaginative you liked it track original and imaginative until Humphreys most damning criticism he would be an excellent chairman idiot yes but an excellent chairman but the principle of democratic accountability requires the occasional human sacrifice when the pack is baying for blood I'm appalled so I'm innocent you know competence of it his stupidity I agree I can't think what came over you but I don't want an inquiry any more than you do but if you're drowning or somebody throws you a rope you grab it that wasn't a rope that was a noose it depends on who the Chairman is he absolutely has to be sound how do you mean sir well a sound man will know what is required he will perceive the implications he would have a sympathetic and sensitivity side into the overall problems in short he will be saddened you mean from Home Minister MPs constituents doctors nurses the public troublemakers they're some of the worst it is to make everybody better better for having shown that the extent of their care and compassion you see Minister when money is allocated to the health or social services Parliament in the country feel cleansed purified absolved it is a sacrifice capture but a public does care if this money is misspent or with respect Minister they care that it should not be seen to be misspent as Minister that hospital is for sick British not healthy foreigners there's a huge waiting list for it the binge is he of the intellectual caliber to understand our case well surely our case is intelligible to anyone with the intellectual caliber of winnie-the-pooh wide and hacker is of the intellectual caliber of Winnie the Pooh oh yes on his day her Majesty's civil servants spend their lives working for a modest wage and at the end they retire into obscurity honours are a small reward for a lifetime of loyal self-effacing discretion and devoted service to Her Majesty and to the nation alas yes how do you get over 30,000 a year that's 7,000 more than I get yes but still a relatively modest wage relative to well Elizabeth Taylor for example I am NOT going to approve any honor for any civil servant in this department who has earned it what you mean earned it I mean earned it done something to deserve it but that's unheard I take it your silence indicates approval you may not wish did you get that preposterous idea but it's ridiculous it's unheard of it's out of the question why but the whole idea is it strikes at the very roots of verb they do it's the beginning of the end the thin end of the wedge a benign solution where will it end the abolition of the monarchy what happening is that I am fully seized of your aims and of course I will do my utmost to see that they're put into practice the world to that end I recommend that we set up an interdepartmental committee with fairly broad terms of reference so that at the end of the day we will be in a position to think through the various implications and arrive at a decision based on long-term considerations rather than rush prematurely into precipitate and possibly ill-conceived action which might well have unforeseen repercussions linking honours to economies and all that so that if you know about that love nonsense ah good do you mean it's not true I love exactly that is he did just mention it but I can't find any effective arguments against it Humphrey this is the thin end of the wedge that's what I said a Ben I'd sue I said that that's what I said it's intolerable but irresistible

Channel: Random Studios Production

Views: 38,026

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Id: aE4Z90EG038

Length: 5min 59sec (359 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2020