Jim Wants To Hire More Women | Yes Minister | BBC Comedy Greats

i am going to announce a quota of 25 women deputy sectors and permanent secretaries to be achieved within the next four years now wait a minute minister why well i'm obviously in total sympathy with your objectives obviously of course we must have more women at the top of course and all of us are deeply concerned by this apparent imbalance but these things take time do i want to make a start straight away i agree wholeheartedly and i propose we make an immediate start by setting up an interdepartmental committee and forming that's not what i meant and you know it i don't want the usual delaying tactics this needs a sledgehammer we must cut through the red tape oh you can't cut tape with a sledgehammer minister oh now minister you do me an injustice i was not about to suggest laying tactics oh sorry oh that's all right minister i was about to suggest that if we are to have a 25 quarter of women we need a much larger intake at the recruitment stage so that eventually there will be 25 in the top jobs when in 25 years you haven't got quite my drift i mean now oh you mean now got it in 100. minister it takes time to do things now the three articles of civil service faith it takes longer to do things quickly it's more expensive to do them cheaply and it's more democratic to do them in secret no i have suggested four years and i think that's masses of time oh dear me no i don't mean political time i mean real time civil servants are grown like like oak trees not mustard and cress they bloom and ripen with the seasons they mature like uh like like yourself well i was about to say like an old port like grimsby perhaps yes i was being serious minister yes i foresaw this problem and i propose we solve it by bringing in top women from outside the service to fill vacancies in the top jobs i don't think i quite understood watch my mouth happy we will bring in women from outside but the whole strength of the system is that it is incorruptible pure and unsullied by outside influence people move from job to job throughout industry why should the civil service be different well the civil service is different it demands subtlety discretion devotion to duty soundness sounds well said bernard civil servants require endless patience and boundless understanding they need to be able and willing to change horses midstream as the politicians change what they're pleased to call their minds and you have all these talents humphrey well it is just that one has been properly um matured like grimsby strange no hungry ask yourself seriously if there isn't something wrong with the system why are there so few women deputy secretaries well they keep leaving to have babies and things babies at the age of nearly 50 surely not well i don't know minister really i don't i'm on your side we really do need more women at the top good cause i'm not waiting 25 years there's a vacancy deputy secretary in this department isn't there yes i shall appoint a woman sarah harrison sarah harris i think she's very able don't you very able for a woman for a person a very evil girl and she has ideas she is an original thinker yes i'm afraid that's true but she doesn't let it interfere with her work what have you got against her last thing i think she's quite excellent i'm a great supporter of hers i advocated her promotion last year to undersecretary at a very early age would you agree that she is an outstanding under secretary yes so on balance it is a good idea on balance yes and no it's not a very clear answer it's a balanced answer you

Channel: BBC Comedy Greats

Views: 242,555

Keywords: bbc, bbc comedy greats, bbc comedy, comedy greats, british comedy, stand up, Comedian, Comic, Sketch show, yes minister, yes prime minister, yes minister season 3, yes minister jim hacker, jim hacker, paul eddington, nigel hawthorne, sir humphrey appleby, derek fowlds, bernard woolley, weisel, yes minister A Quality of Life, A Quality of Life, classic comedy, James Hacker, Yes Minister, jim wants to create equal opportunities

Id: x2wtGJlBzzY

Length: 4min 15sec (255 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 30 2020