Yes Minister was not just comedy. It was satire based on the actual way Britain's goverment worked.
It is all kabuki in the political theatre. Has been for a very long time. There are three effective groups in goverment:
The opposition (political party), which is the opposition in exile
The ruling party (political party), which is the opposition to the government
The civil service, which is the actual government in control.
Most MPs, and all ministers, are captured by their civil servants. Like Hacker, they have at least one private secretary who will be in government far longer than the elected official. Those civil servants determine what the politicians see in their red boxes (unless like Hacker they dig, which almost none do), advise them on the best way forward, and drive the rest of the civil service to enact policies as they (not the politician or the people) see fit.
This is largely why implementing brexit was a farce, why immigration is out of control, why the farmers are being persecuted, and why nothing positive seems to ever move forward for the UK citizenry. The people implementing the policies want to subvert them. The politicians are "a pleasure to work with" for the civil service, which is perhaps the most vile accusation from Yes Minister a politician can receive.
And why do the civil servants do this? Well, most of them get to sit on boards of big companies after they retire. They benefit from a nearly impossible to lose job, get to claim knighthood and various honors from the Royal family for their "dedication to the nation", and have all the real power in the government. Not bad if all that's really required is to be part of the oxbridge old boys club.
The objectives of the civil service is to increase the budgets they get to play with, and by extension their power. Why do you think the NHS tax and money keeps going up? It isn't inflation,. It is the increase in administrative costs (or in other words more civil servants), and wasteful spending on things like their infamous IT project (which is a lesson for product managers on what not to do in university in Britain if you take a comp Sci or computing degree). Yes minister brought this issue to light dedicating a whole episode with the compassionate society (https://youtu.be/x-5zEb1oS9A?si=5rLQvybx_YZk_Mih)
It is my humble opinion that Yes minister and yes prime minister should be made mandatory for all children to watch as a part of a required civic class in Britain. This way we can show the children of that nation who is to blame for all the problems in government. It covers:
How a civil servant can bamboozle a prime minister with explosive verbosity, and how prime ministers are kept in the dark on activities being taken in their name, and the semantics of "needing to know": https://youtu.be/NX45hc0aZt0?si=B4ecFgWZIZJr1e54
There are more nuggets out there, but you get the jist.
Yes Minister was not just comedy. It was satire based on the actual way Britain's goverment worked.
It is all kabuki in the political theatre. Has been for a very long time. There are three effective groups in goverment:
Most MPs, and all ministers, are captured by their civil servants. Like Hacker, they have at least one private secretary who will be in government far longer than the elected official. Those civil servants determine what the politicians see in their red boxes (unless like Hacker they dig, which almost none do), advise them on the best way forward, and drive the rest of the civil service to enact policies as they (not the politician or the people) see fit.
This is largely why implementing brexit was a farce, why immigration is out of control, why the farmers are being persecuted, and why nothing positive seems to ever move forward for the UK citizenry. The people implementing the policies want to subvert them. The politicians are "a pleasure to work with" for the civil service, which is perhaps the most vile accusation from Yes Minister a politician can receive.
And why do the civil servants do this? Well, most of them get to sit on boards of big companies after they retire. They benefit from a nearly impossible to lose job, get to claim knighthood and various honors from the Royal family for their "dedication to the nation", and have all the real power in the government. Not bad if all that's really required is to be part of the oxbridge old boys club.
The objectives of the civil service is to increase the budgets they get to play with, and by extension their power. Why do you think the NHS tax and money keeps going up? It isn't inflation,. It is the increase in administrative costs (or in other words more civil servants), and wasteful spending on things like their infamous IT project (which is a lesson for product managers on what not to do in university in Britain if you take a comp Sci or computing degree). Yes minister brought this issue to light dedicating a whole episode with the compassionate society (https://youtu.be/x-5zEb1oS9A?si=5rLQvybx_YZk_Mih)
It is my humble opinion that Yes minister and yes prime minister should be made mandatory for all children to watch as a part of a required civic class in Britain. This way we can show the children of that nation who is to blame for all the problems in government. It covers:
There are more nuggets out there, but you get the jist.
VIP post anon. 🥇
I'll have a look at Yes, Minister. I've never watched it and if they giving truths out I'll give it a go.
Thank you for the links at the end I'll go through them and then look for the entire series
Its obvious really. Policies started under the Tories are being continued by Labour. The only difference is on the emphasis and the delivery.