- 3 months ago
- #yesminister
- #bigbrother
Tv, Yes Minister - S01E04 Big Brother
#YesMinister #BigBrother
#YesMinister #BigBrother
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:43Recording in one minute, studio. Stand by.
00:47We are going to talk about cuts in government extravagance, that sort of thing, Bob, aren't we?
00:51Now, fine, Jim. We'll get to that if we've got time after the National Database.
00:56You know, I don't think people are really interested in the database.
00:59Aren't they? It's so trivial.
01:01BT running.
01:02What's the matter?
01:03You're just looking a bit too pink.
01:05Can't have that. What will the Daily Telegraph say?
01:08I mean, all those questions about, are we creating a police state?
01:11I trust we can do without those, can't we?
01:13Now, come on, Jim. You know me. I don't give out my questions in advance.
01:16Dead silence now, please. Ten seconds.
01:19Five, four, three, two...
01:25Good evening. Is Big Brother watching you?
01:28To be more precise, we'll know that the government is building up a dossier on you.
01:32It's called by the harmless-sounding name of National Integrated Database.
01:37What it means is that at the press of a button, any civil servant can inspect just about every detail of your life.
01:43Your tax, your medical record, periods of unemployment, children's school records, the lot.
01:49And that civil servant may happen to be your next-door neighbor.
01:52Well, recently there's been mounting concern over this powerful, even totalitarian weapon
01:57that the computer revolution has put into the government's hand.
02:00And the man who wields the weapon is the Minister for Administrative Affairs,
02:05the Right Honourable James Hacker, MP.
02:08Now, Minister, are you laying the foundations of the police state?
02:11You know, I'm glad you asked me that question.
02:16Well, Minister, could we have the answer?
02:18Hello. Well, yes, of course, I'm just about to give it to you, if I may.
02:24Yes, as I said, I'm glad you asked me that question, because
02:27it's a question a lot of people are asking.
02:33And why?
02:34Because a lot of people want to know the answer to it.
02:38And let's be quite clear about this, without beating about the bush.
02:42The plain fact of the matter is
02:44that it's a very important question indeed.
02:48And people have a right to know.
02:54Minister, we haven't yet had the answer.
02:58I'm sorry, what was the question?
03:01Now, look, supposing I annoy you in this interview,
03:04how do I know you wouldn't go back to your office,
03:06press a button,
03:08and call up my tax records,
03:09my hospital records,
03:11my police records?
03:12No, no, no, Bob, you know as well as I do,
03:14that's not the way we do things in this country.
03:16Well, then what's the database for,
03:18if it's not to check up on people?
03:21You know,
03:22that's a very interesting question.
03:24It's for storing information
03:28serves to speed up government business
03:31so that we need not take on enormous influx of clerical staff.
03:36Computers are big business and are good news.
03:40But, Minister, if you put information into the machine,
03:43you'll eventually take information out of the machine.
03:45Not necessarily.
03:49So, you're going to spend £25 million
03:52accumulating information and never use it?
03:55No.
03:56Well, yes, no.
03:58Well, there will be safeguards.
04:01Such as?
04:03Plenty on him, too.
04:04Bob's got him on the run.
04:05One minute for the client studio.
04:07We'll be looking at a whole range of possibilities.
04:10And, of course, it's a complex
04:12and highly technical matter.
04:14Rome wasn't built in a day.
04:17It's under review.
04:18And, of course, well, these things, you know, take time.
04:21Minister, am I talking to the former editor of Reform
04:24or to a civil service spokesman?
04:26Well, we haven't yet talked about the safeguards
04:28that I've already introduced.
04:29And there's my new bureaucratic watchdog office, for instance.
04:33Well, Minister, it does look as if we need
04:35a whole pack of watchdogs before long.
04:37But thank you very much.
04:40Right, hold it there, studio,
04:41while we check the tape.
04:42Well, I thought first class,
04:45very good indeed.
04:46I thought I waffled a bit.
04:48Oh, no, you stonewalled superbly, Minister.
04:51Time for a drink.
04:53About the safeguards, I've already introduced
04:55my new bureaucratic watchdog office, for instance.
04:58Well, Minister, it sounds as if we're going to need
05:00a pack of watchdogs before very long,
05:02but thank you very much.
05:04Well, next week's topic...
05:06How was I?
05:07Splendid, Minister, splendid.
05:08Very dignified, very suitable.
05:11Yes, Sir Humphrey, I congratulate you.
05:13Jim is now perfectly house-trained.
05:15He says and does exactly what you tell him.
05:17If you'll excuse me, Mr. Weasel.
05:19Weasel.
05:22You just say everything the Civil Service
05:24programmed you to say.
05:25What are you, a man or a mouth?
05:27Very amazing, Frank.
05:28It must be hard for a political advisor
05:30to understand this,
05:32but I'm merely a civil servant.
05:34I simply do as I'm instructed by my master.
05:38What happens when the Minister's a woman?
05:39What do you call her?
05:40Yes, it's rather interesting.
05:42We sought an answer to that point
05:44when I was Principal Private Secretary
05:45and Dr. Edith Summerskill, as she then was,
05:48was appointed Minister in 1947.
05:51I didn't quite like to refer to her as my mistress.
05:54What was the answer?
05:55We're still waiting for it.
05:56It's under review, is it?
06:00Rome wasn't built in a day, eh, Sir Humphrey?
06:01These things take time.
06:02Well, I really must be going, Minister.
06:04Yeah, me too.
06:04Before you go, Minister,
06:05may I remind you,
06:06we meet tomorrow morning, Paddington, 8 o'clock.
06:08Where are we going?
06:09Swansea, Minister.
06:10Swansea?
06:10Yes, you're addressing the Conference
06:12of Municipal Treasurers
06:13at the Licensing Centre in Swansea.
06:15Oh, yes.
06:16But, Jim, you're due in Newcastle tomorrow night
06:18to address the by-election meeting.
06:19So I am.
06:20Well, you can't do both, Minister.
06:21I can't do both, Frank.
06:22Jim, that's just civil service junket.
06:24The by-election's important.
06:25The by-election's important, Bernard.
06:26Minister, the conference has been in your diary
06:28for some weeks.
06:28They do expect you to go to Swansea.
06:30Central House expects you to go to Newcastle.
06:32Bernard, how come he's double-booked?
06:33Bernard, how come I'm double-booked?
06:34Well, largely because, Minister,
06:36nobody told me about Newcastle.
06:37Why didn't you tell him, Frank?
06:38Why didn't you?
06:39I can't remember everything.
06:42Frank, I think I'd better go to Swansea.
06:44Is that a decision, Minister?
06:45Yes, that's final.
06:46The PM expects you to go to Newcastle.
06:48PM?
06:49I think I'd better go to Newcastle, Bernard.
06:52Is that a decision, Jim?
06:53Yes, that's a decision.
06:54That's final.
06:55And I'm going home.
06:56Is that a decision?
06:57No, no, no, quite seriously.
06:59I think you've made the wrong decision, Minister.
07:01Your visit to Swansea's been announced.
07:03It's in the programme.
07:04You can't really get out of it.
07:05Oh, Lord.
07:06Well, just find a way of getting me
07:07from Swansea to Newcastle.
07:10Car, train, helicopter, anything.
07:12I'll have to do both.
07:13And now I'm going home, and that is final.
07:15George?
07:15Finally final?
07:16Absolutely finally.
07:18Minister, if you could be sure
07:19to do all your boxes tonight.
07:21There's all the M&A committee papers
07:22and all the letters to go off before the weekend.
07:24Right.
07:24And if you're a good boy,
07:26your nanny will give you a sweetie.
07:27Good.
07:27Hello, darling.
07:37Thank you, George.
07:38Good night.
07:39Good night, sir.
07:39Hello, darling.
07:44Hello.
07:47Leaving me at last.
07:49It's our anniversary tomorrow.
07:50Have you forgotten?
07:51No, of course I hadn't forgotten.
07:54We're going to Paris.
07:56Oh, my God.
07:56You had forgotten.
07:58No, I hadn't.
07:58No, it's just that I didn't...
08:00I'm double...
08:02I'm going to Swansea tomorrow.
08:04Swansea?
08:04And Newcastle.
08:05I don't want to go to Swansea and Newcastle
08:07for my anniversary.
08:08No, not you.
08:09Just me.
08:09Cancel them.
08:10I can't.
08:16What are you doing?
08:20Cancel them.
08:21We booked this three months ago.
08:23I can't.
08:24Then I'll go to Paris without you.
08:25Oh, my God.
08:31Bernard?
08:32Yes, it's me.
08:33Look, I'm going to have to cancel tomorrow.
08:37Swansea and Newcastle.
08:39Well, you see, it's my wife's wedding anniversary tomorrow.
08:43It's yours, too.
08:45Yeah, and mine, too, actually.
08:47Yes, it is.
08:48What do you mean, coincidence?
08:49Don't be silly, Bernard.
08:51Anyway, I'm going to Paris tomorrow, and that's final.
08:53Yes, I know I said before that it's final,
08:56but this time it is final.
08:58Well, you'll just have to cope as best you can, that's all.
09:02Yes.
09:04Yes?
09:05Definitely.
09:07Yes?
09:08Is that clear?
09:10Right.
09:11We're going to Paris.
09:13No, I'm going to Swansea and Newcastle.
09:15See me on TV tonight?
09:21I saw somebody who looked like you.
09:23What's that meant to mean?
09:24Nothing.
09:25Frank Wiesel says I've just become a civil service mouthpiece.
09:28Yes.
09:28What do you mean, yes?
09:29Well, yes.
09:30You mean you agree?
09:31Of course.
09:32Do you mean, of course?
09:34I mean, you could have hired an actor to say it all for you.
09:36He'd have said it better.
09:37And while you're at it,
09:38why not just sign your letters with a rubber stamp
09:40or get an assistant principal to sign them for you?
09:42They write them anyway.
09:45Assistant principals do not write my letters.
09:48Under-secretaries do that.
09:50I rest my case, my lad.
09:53You don't think I've just become a puppet, do you?
09:55Yes, I do.
09:56Maybe you should get Miss Piggy to do your job.
09:58At least she's prettier.
09:59I don't know what to do about it.
10:01I'm just swamped by the work.
10:04Oh, Annie, I'm so depressed.
10:07Look, as we're not going to Paris,
10:10let's at least go out for a quiet little dinner tonight
10:12at the Trat on the corner.
10:15No, I can't.
10:16Bernard's told me I've got to get through three red boxes tonight.
10:18What do you mean, Bernard's told you?
10:21Oh, darling, when you edited Reform,
10:23you were quite different.
10:24You went in, you told people what to do,
10:26you demanded what you wanted, and you got it.
10:28Now, either you get them by the throat
10:29or they get you by the throat.
10:31How many articles did you blue pencil
10:33and tear up in those days?
10:35Dozens.
10:35And how many official papers have you torn up?
10:38I'm not allowed to.
10:39Not allowed to.
10:41Darling, you're the minister.
10:43You can do anything you like.
10:49No, Humphrey, I've decided that Frank was right,
10:51and Bob McKenzie, too.
10:53The national database has got to be organised differently.
10:56Yes, minister.
10:57We want all possible built-in safeguards.
10:59Yes, minister.
11:00Right away.
11:02Um, what precisely do you mean, right away?
11:05I mean, right away.
11:07Oh, I see.
11:07You mean right away, minister.
11:09Got it in one, Humphrey.
11:11Well, minister, perhaps I should remind you
11:13that we're still in the early months of this government,
11:15and there's no...
11:16Humphrey, the database rules have got to be changed now.
11:19But you can't, minister.
11:20Yes, I can.
11:21I'm the minister.
11:22Yes, indeed you are, minister.
11:25And quite an excellent minister at that of my message.
11:27Never mind the soft soap, Humphrey.
11:29I want all citizens to have a right to see their own files,
11:33and I want legislation to make unauthorised access
11:35to personal files illegal.
11:37Very well, minister.
11:38It shall be done.
11:39Good.
11:39But the legislation necessary to give the public
11:42the right to take legal action
11:44is extremely complicated
11:46and would take considerable time
11:49to draft, promulgate, and enact.
11:52Legislation isn't necessary for a citizen
11:53to see his own files, is it?
11:56No.
11:57Then won't we start with that?
11:58Well, I suppose we could manage that slightly quicker, minister,
12:02but there's an awful lot of administrative problems as well.
12:05Humphrey, this must have been examined before.
12:07I mean, the database has been in preparation for years.
12:10It hasn't just materialised overnight.
12:11There must have been discussions about it.
12:13Well, yes, indeed, minister.
12:14Well, what conclusions were reached?
12:18Humphrey.
12:20What conclusions were reached?
12:22I mean, what did my predecessor want to do about it?
12:26Humphrey.
12:29My lips are sealed.
12:32I beg your pardon?
12:33I am not at liberty to reveal previous plans, minister.
12:36Why not?
12:37Minister, would you like everything that you've said and done
12:40in the privacy of this office
12:41to be revealed subsequently to one of your opponents?
12:44Oh.
12:45I see.
12:46No.
12:46But we cannot give your opponents political ammunition against you,
12:49nor vice versa.
12:51But Tom Sargent was my predecessor.
12:52He wouldn't mind,
12:53and it isn't a party political matter, sure.
12:55It's a matter of principle, minister.
12:57I just wouldn't be...
12:58I see.
13:00We don't want to do anything that wouldn't be...
13:02No.
13:03No.
13:03Oh, excuse me, minister.
13:06Yes, ma'am?
13:07A slight problem, minister.
13:09Yes, sir.
13:10Because of the adverse,
13:11well, that is to say,
13:12not entirely favourable press reaction
13:14to your interview last night,
13:15the other channel wants you for their programme,
13:17World in Focus.
13:18Say no.
13:19No?
13:19Yes, no.
13:20Yes, no?
13:22Yes, say no.
13:23That's fine.
13:23Well, if that's what you want, minister,
13:25but they did say,
13:26even if you didn't appear,
13:27they would go ahead with the item anyway,
13:28and there would be nobody there to state your case.
13:30No.
13:31Okay, yes.
13:32No, okay, yes.
13:34Oh, I see what you mean.
13:36Yes.
13:37Finally final?
13:39Thank you, Bernard.
13:39Now, what am I going to tell them about safeguards, Humphrey?
13:45Well, perhaps you could remind the minister
13:47that Rome wasn't built in a day.
14:00Tom.
14:02Oh, my dear fellow.
14:03Mind if I join you?
14:04No, of course not.
14:05Oh, how are you enjoying being in opposition?
14:10I enjoy being in government.
14:12Well, not as much as I expected, actually.
14:15Well, not at the moment.
14:17Humphrey got you under control.
14:19It's so hard to get things done.
14:21Did you manage to get things done?
14:22Oh, almost nothing, old boy.
14:25Mind you, I didn't cotton on to his technique
14:27until after I'd been there a year,
14:28and then there was the election.
14:29Technique?
14:31Stalling technique.
14:33Stalling technique?
14:34Yeah, it comes in five stages.
14:36First of all, he'll tell you that your administration is very new
14:39and there's lots of things to be getting on with.
14:40Tell me that this morning.
14:42Quite.
14:43Then, if you still persist, whatever your idea is,
14:45you'll say something like,
14:46Ah, yes, minister.
14:49I quite appreciate the intention.
14:50Certainly something ought to be done.
14:52But are you sure this is the right way to achieve it?
14:55I must make a note of this.
14:57Now, if you are still undeterred,
14:59he will shift his ground.
15:01He will shift from telling you how to do it
15:04to when you should do it.
15:05You know, I mean, he'll say,
15:07Now, minister, this is not the right time.
15:11For all sorts of reasons.
15:12Well, and he expects ministers to settle for that?
15:14Well, lots do.
15:15And if you don't, well,
15:16he'll simply say that the policy has run into difficulties.
15:19Such as?
15:20Technical, political, legal.
15:24Now, legal are the best sort, of course,
15:26because you can make those totally incomprehensible.
15:29And with any luck,
15:30this stalling technique will have lasted for about three years.
15:33And you'll know that you're at the final stage
15:35when he says,
15:36Now, minister, we're getting very close to the run-up
15:38to the next general election.
15:39Are you sure you can get this policy through?
15:41Three years?
15:41How's it taken three years?
15:43Well, because Sir Humphrey will do absolutely nothing
15:45at every stage unless you chase him.
15:46And you've got far too much to do.
15:48You see, it's what they call creative inertia.
15:55What's the policy you're trying to get through, anyway?
15:58Well, I'm trying to make this national integrated database
16:01a bit less of a big brother.
16:04Oh, my God, Father, is that what it is?
16:06And I suppose he's told you it's all quite new, has he?
16:08Oh, yes.
16:09My dear fellow, we spent years on that.
16:11We had a white paper almost ready for publication
16:13when they called election.
16:14I've done it all.
16:16But what about administrative problems?
16:17There aren't any.
16:18I've solved them.
16:19Did he tell you that you couldn't see any of the previous papers?
16:22Yes.
16:22No wonder he's wiped the slate clean.
16:26Don't you know what his next move is going to be?
16:28No.
16:29How many red boxes have they given you home tonight?
16:31Three?
16:32Four?
16:32Five.
16:33Did he tell you not to worry too much about the fifth one?
16:37Yes.
16:37Right, I'll take a bet.
16:38You will find at the bottom of the fifth box
16:41a little memo which explains exactly why
16:44any new moves on the database must be delayed.
16:47Now, if you don't find it, he won't do another blind thing.
16:50But in six months' time,
16:52he'll say that he has told you all about it.
16:56Look, Tom, you were in office for years.
16:58You know all the civil service tricks.
17:00Oh, not all, old boy.
17:01Just a few hundred.
17:03How do you defeat them?
17:05How do you make them do something they don't want to do?
17:08My dear fellow.
17:10If I knew that, I wouldn't be in opposition.
17:15But I don't get it.
17:17Tom's the opposition.
17:19Why did he tell you all this?
17:20I think the opposition aren't the opposition.
17:23No, of course not.
17:23Silly of me.
17:24They just called the opposition.
17:25They're only the opposition in exile.
17:27Well, the civil service of the opposition in residence.
17:31Now then.
17:33Bottom of the fifth box, Tom, sir.
17:36But even if you know the techniques,
17:37you can't really do anything.
17:39Oh, can't I?
17:40Tom's given me all his own papers on the database.
17:43Three years' worth.
17:45Marvellous.
17:48Ah.
17:49Huh.
17:50Found it.
17:51It had somehow slipped into the middle
17:53of an 80-page report on welfare procedures.
17:57Safeguards still under discussion.
18:01Program not finalized.
18:03Nothing precipitate.
18:06Failing instructions to the contrary.
18:08Propose await development.
18:10Typical.
18:11Why not bring Humphrey and tell him you disagree?
18:13Don't worry.
18:13I'll see him first thing.
18:15Bring him now.
18:16Darling, it's two o'clock in the morning.
18:18He'll be fast asleep.
18:19Exactly.
18:19Honey.
18:22Honey.
18:23Why should he be asleep while you're still working?
18:26He's had you on the run for weeks.
18:27Now it's your turn.
18:29I couldn't do that.
18:32What's his number?
18:34Anyway, if it was in the fifth box,
18:36you couldn't have got to it earlier, could you?
18:38True.
18:38True.
18:58Humphrey, sorry to ring you so late.
19:00I didn't interrupt you in the middle of dinner or anything today?
19:05No, no.
19:06We finished dinner some while ago.
19:08What's the time?
19:102 a.m.
19:12Good God.
19:12What's the crisis?
19:13No, no, no crisis.
19:14I'm just going through my boxes,
19:16and I knew you'd still be hard at it.
19:18Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.
19:20Nose to the grindstone.
19:21Good.
19:22Well, I've just come across this database paper.
19:24Oh, you found it.
19:25You've read it, yes?
19:27Well, I'd better tell you straight away I'm not happy with it.
19:30I knew you'd welcome an opportunity to work on something else, right?
19:33Hope you didn't mind my calling you.
19:35No, not at all, Minister.
19:36It's always a pleasure to hear from you.
19:41Oh, damn.
19:43I meant to tell him to come and see me about it before Cabinet.
19:45Don't ring him now.
19:47No, perhaps you're right.
19:48It is a bit late.
19:50Give him another ten minutes.
19:51If you could be fairly quick, Sir Humphrey, he does have Cabinet at ten.
20:01I can be very quick, Bernard.
20:02The word no is one of the shortest in the language.
20:04It's up to the Minister.
20:07Sorry to be so late.
20:08Lots of readings there this morning.
20:10Good morning, Bernard.
20:12Thank you, George.
20:15Now, Humphrey, the database.
20:18Have you drafted your proposed safeguards?
20:20Well, Minister, I quite appreciate your intention
20:23and fully agree that there is a need for safeguard.
20:26But is this the right way to achieve it?
20:30Well, it's my way.
20:32One.
20:35That's my decision, anyway.
20:37Well, this is not really the time, Minister, for all sorts of reasons.
20:42Two.
20:43It's the perfect time.
20:47Safeguards should be developed alongside systems, not after them.
20:50I mean, that's common sense.
20:51Yes, but we have tried all this before, Minister,
20:53and we've run into all sorts of difficulties.
20:55Three.
20:57Such as?
20:59Well, a technical, for instance.
21:01No, no problems.
21:02I've been doing a bit of research.
21:04We can use the same basic file interrogation programme
21:06as the US State Department and the Swedish Ministry of the Interior.
21:09No problems there.
21:10Yes, but there are also formidable administrative problems, Minister.
21:15Mm-hm.
21:15Mm-hm.
21:17And all departments are affected.
21:20An interdepartmental committee...
21:21No, no, no, no, no, Humphrey.
21:23I think you'll find, if you look into it,
21:25that the existing security procedures are adequate.
21:28This is simply an extension.
21:29Anything more?
21:30Well, yes, Minister.
21:32Legal problems, for example?
21:36Well, yes, Minister.
21:37Good, good.
21:38There's a question whether we have the legal power.
21:40Well, I can answer that.
21:41We have.
21:42All personnel affected are bound by their staff agreements anyway.
21:46Yes, but, Minister,
21:47there will be a need for extra staffing.
21:50Are you sure you'll be able to get it through the Cabinet
21:51and the Parliamentary party?
21:53Yes, I'm quite sure.
21:54Oh.
21:54Anything further?
21:56No, I don't think so.
21:56Right.
21:57Well, we can go ahead, then.
21:58You're very silent, Humphrey.
22:05Minister, you don't seem to realise the amount of work that's involved.
22:08Oh, but haven't you examined safeguards before?
22:11I mean, under another government, perhaps?
22:13I seem to remember some written answers to Parliamentary questions in the past.
22:16Well, in the first place, as I think we've agreed, that question is not, Tom.
22:21In the second place, if there had been investigations, which there have, or not necessarily,
22:27or I am not at liberty to say whether there have, there would have been a project team,
22:31which, had it existed, on which I cannot comment, which would now have disbanded if it had existed,
22:36and the members returned to their original departments, if, indeed, there had been any such members.
22:41Or not, as the case may be.
22:44That's quite so, Minister.
22:45Humphrey, I want these safeguards on the database made available immediately.
22:48Minister, it is not possible.
22:50It is.
22:51It isn't.
22:51It is.
22:53It isn't.
22:53It is.
22:54It isn't.
22:55It is.
22:55It is.
22:56It is.
22:56It is.
22:56It is.
22:56It is.
22:56It is.
22:56It is.
22:56It is.
22:56It is.
22:57It is.
22:57Well, Minister, just to remind you, you have Cabinet at ten, then you're addressing the Anglo-American
23:02Society at one, and you've got the World in Focus interview this evening.
23:06Can't you get me out of the lunch?
23:07Well, not really, Minister.
23:08It's been announced.
23:09It's in the programme.
23:10I see.
23:10Oh, well, I suppose I...
23:12What's that you just said, Bernard?
23:14I said we can't get out of it, Minister.
23:16It's been announced.
23:17It's in the programme.
23:19Thank you, Bernard.
23:21Thank you very much.
23:23For what, Minister?
23:26For everything, Bernard.
23:27No, no, no, no.
23:36And our man on the spot tonight is the Right Honourable Jim Hacker, Minister for Administrative
23:43Affairs, the man at the heart of the Big Brother computer controversy.
23:48He's talking to Godfrey Finch.
23:50Minister, as you know, there's been an outcry this week about the dossier that the civil service
23:56bureaucracy has apparently been building up on every citizen in this country.
24:00Now, it's rumoured that this is not, in fact, your own policy, that you'd like to have safeguards
24:07for the individual citizen, but that you are being totally frustrated at every stage
24:12of the game by the civil service machine.
24:16You know, Godfrey, there's a lot of nonsense talked about the civil service.
24:21It's actually a marvellous, efficient, professional organisation capable of enormous energy and
24:27speed.
24:28It's staffed by a lot of talented, dedicated people who do everything in their power to
24:34help the government, to make its policies into law.
24:38Yes, well, thank you for the commercial, Minister.
24:42Perhaps we can start the programme now.
24:44The fact of the matter is that the civil service and I are in complete accord over this whole
24:49business.
24:51And I'm happy to announce that we're now ready to put our proposals into publication.
24:58In fact, tonight, I can say that from September the 1st, every citizen of the UK will have
25:04right to inspect his personal file and check any information that he or she has ever supplied
25:09to the government.
25:10Second, no civil servant will be allowed to examine personal files from another department
25:16without a written authority from a minister.
25:18And I shall be announcing in the House next week, legislation enabling citizens to take legal action against any civil servant who gains unauthorised access to his file.
25:32Encouraging, Minister.
25:33Why did you not say so in the first place and put people's minds at rest?
25:36Frankly, I didn't believe that the civil service could meet our deadlines, Godfrey.
25:40But they've convinced me that they can.
25:42And in fact, my permanent secretary has staked his reputation on it.
25:49If not, heads will roll.
25:54Anyway, assistant heads.
25:57Well, thank you very much, Minister.
25:59It can't be done.
26:01It's been announced on television.
26:03Well, Bannard, what did you make of our minister's performance?
26:06Well, I think it's checkmate.
26:31See me on the box last night, Huffrey?
26:33Of course, Minister.
26:36How was I?
26:38Good.
26:39A most remarkable performance, Minister, if I may say so.
26:43Oh, may, you may.
26:44Thank you, Minister.
26:46Well, Minister, we've been working very hard all night.
26:51I'm happy to be able to tell you that we have come up with some draft proposals
26:56which would enable you to achieve your desired objectives by the stated dates.
27:00Well done, Humphrey.
27:01You see, I told the nation how splendid you were.
27:04I was right.
27:05I had every confidence in you.
27:07Quite so, Minister.
27:09Must have had quite a night.
27:11Yes, Minister, quite a night.
27:13Let's see your proposals.
27:16Here they are.
27:16And here are mine.
27:23Would you have specific proposals, too?
27:26Oh, indeed, I have.
27:27Now, Huffrey, you read out what you've got on safeguards,
27:30and I'll read out what I've got, and we'll see how they compare.
27:33Personal data.
27:391A.
27:40Safeguards must be applied with reference to two criteria.
27:45The need to know and the right to know.
27:491A.
27:491.
27:50The need to know.
27:53Only those officials for whom the information is ready
27:56may be deemed prima facie to have a need to know.
28:01We seem to be of the same mind, Humphrey.
28:04Indeed, Minister.
28:05Where did those proposals come from?
28:15Minister.
28:17Can you hear me?
28:19Where did those proposals come from?
28:23Humphrey.
28:24My lips are sealed.
28:26Come on.
28:27Come on.
28:49Come on.
Be the first to comment