是，大臣 第三季

第三季第一集
　　
　　
　　——常任秘书有多少人？
　　——41个。
　　——有多少女性呢？
　　——额……基本上说……手上没有数据，不好说……
　　——大约呢？
　　——大约……没有。
　　——我们有大约150位副秘书，其中有多少女性？
　　——这很难说。
　　——为什么？
　　——有很多男人婆婆妈妈的。
　　
　　
　　公务员工作三原则：越拖延越高效，越费钱越便宜，越秘密越民主。
　　
　　
　　——不许拖延，要手持大锤，果断斩乱麻。
　　——大锤不能斩乱麻……
　　——你知道我的意思！！！
　　
　　我不反对女权！我喜欢女人！我有很多好朋友就是女的！比如……我妻子。
　　
　　===========================================
　　第三季第二集
　　
　　——我手头的数据说您部门的员工数量上涨了10%。
　　——没那回事。
　　——那您的数据呢？
　　——我相信顶多是9.97%。
　　
　　——眼下谈详细计划还为时过早，我刚从唐宁街10号过来。
　　——莫不是9.97号？
　　
　　
　　——我恳求您不要踏入地方政府的地雷阵，这是政治坟场！
　　——对不起，汉弗莱博士，地雷阵里不能建坟场，不然尸体会……轰~~~
　　
　　
　　——是你给我揽的权限，你说的。
　　——可我没指望您做什么实事，您一向不做实事啊！
　　
　　
　　——让比尔通知到所有媒体，告诉他们，我夜不能寐，为泰晤士沼居民的防卫而忧心。
　　——你有吗，大臣？
　　——现在有了！
　　
　　
　　——（大臣）自以为有了成就。
　　——太好了！大臣自以为有了成就，日子就好过多了！不闹腾，不发脾气。
　　——对，可他现在要实施第二项构想。
　　——一个大臣有两项构想？那还真是前无古人呢！
　　
　　
　　===========================================
　　第三季第三集
　　
　　
　　——如果地方政府都不按要求交报表，政府数据就纯属胡说了。
　　——怎么？
　　——不完整啊！
　　——政府数据本来就是胡说。
　　——大概汉弗莱爵士是想确认一下他们是纯的胡说。
　　
　　
　　——一般大臣想知道什么，要叫人呈报上来。要是他们自己去打听，没准会……没准会……
　　——打听出来？
　　——对……
　　
　　
　　——他住几号房？
　　——我提出严正反对，大臣。
　　——反对收到。
　　——4017号。往下一层，左手第二走廊。
　　——要是我48小时没回来，派搜索队来。
　　
　　
　　显然我没受过法律训练，不然不会派我管法务部门。
　　
　　
　　——我怎么跟邮报解释失踪的文件？
　　——这个嘛……我们有种惯用手段对付。这个。
　　——“该档案包含全部相关文件，除了极少数机密文件，少数隶属于其他未公开档案的文件，1967年洪灾中损毁的某些通信……”1967年冬天很恶劣吗？
　　——不，那个冬天很不错，我们丢失了无数棘手的文件。
　　——“……运往伦敦途中遗失的某些文件，战争部并入国防部期间遗失的记录，以及经正常程序抽出的报告，为了避免可能引起的侵害隐私或冒犯友邦政府不满等情形。”貌似情有可原嘛！一般还能给他们剩下多少？实际剩下多少？大约100份？……50份？……10份？……5？4？3？2？1？
　　——……
　　——0？！？！
　　——是，大臣！
　　
　　===========================================
　　第三季第四集
　　
　　
　　——请您先看看这个。
　　——是什么？
　　——是最终公报
　　——最终公报？怎么能在会前写最终公报？
　　——正相反，大臣，不能留到会后写公报。我们得愈诸多部门达成共识。欧共体、华盛顿、库朗大使馆……在一片沙漠里根本忙不过来。
　　——这跟我们要讲的完全没关系。
　　——公报跟我们要讲的一向没关系。
　　——那为什么要写？
　　——好让媒体有东西报道。记者需要解释他们采访这件无用功的昂贵账单。
　　——无用功？
　　——哦，您会功勋显赫的，大臣。所以对媒体来说就是无用功了。
　　——他们巴不得我在招待会上耍酒疯。
　　——是啊，但这次没指望了，库朗很干燥。
　　
　　
　　——现在你说，是贿赂来的。
　　——不，大臣
　　——哦，不是贿赂来的。
　　——我没那么说。
　　——那你怎么说？
　　——我说我没告诉您那是贿赂来的。
　　
　　
　　新闻办总有一套有说服力的空话，这是他们的工作。
　　
　　===========================================
　　第三季 第五集
　　
　　
　　——奉承一个政客？几时失败过?我们叫他“交通总管”怎样？
　　——不错，比“交通冤大头”强多了！
　　
　　
　　——我们提过政策。
　　——有吗？
　　——是啊，我们的政策就是没有政策！
　　
　　
　　——我有个振奋人心的好消息！
　　——是什么，大臣？
　　——我得到一份新工作。
　　——哦，本部门对失去您十分惋惜。
　　——不，我是说额外工作。要我制定国民综合交通政策，首相指派的！
　　——知道了。那好消息是什么？
　　
　　
　　报纸和政府不一样。如果我们发表了声明，我们得证明那是真的。
　　
　　===========================================
　　第三季第六集
　　
　　
　　如果我有必要知道这件事，我会义无反顾的告诉我自己。
　　
　　
　　——可是你说你是私下告诉我
　　——对，可您私下知道了，就算没正式知道，您也可以用私人消息展开正式调查，以正式查证来打消私人疑虑。所以您私下，而不是正式知道的，届时就能正式知道，也私下知道了。
　　——你该不会是汉弗莱爵士家的亲戚吧？
　　
　　
　　——好，现在我知道了，私下的。
　　——太妙了，您会采取些措施吧？
　　——当然，绝对要采取，
　　——马上？
　　——马上！
　　——您要采取什么措施？
　　——我要好好考虑你的消息，马上。
　　——然后呢？
　　——然后会考虑许多对策，毫不含糊！
　　——你要毫不含糊的采取对策？
　　——我要毫不含糊的开始考虑对策！
　　——你不会是汉弗莱爵士家的亲戚吧？
　　
　　
　　——你能不能料到一艘英国航母在中非共和国出现？
　　——大臣，这我还真料不到。那里距海1000英里呢。
　　
　　
　　
　　——昨晚，一个机密线人向我透露英国军火被卖给了意大利恐怖分子。
　　——这样啊，请问是哪位机密线人？
　　——汉弗莱，我说了是机密。
　　——抱歉，我习惯性的认为您这是要告诉我。
　　
　　
　　政府政策几乎都不对，不过执行非常圆满。
　　
　　
　　===========================================
　　第三季第七集
　　
　　
　　——规划调查员不是独立的吗？
　　——是的，大臣。当然，火车也是独立的，只要铺好轨道，他们照样跟着走~
　　
　　
　　——反正工业部长也整天做无用功。
　　——教育部长没教养。
　　——就业部长该失业。
　　
　　
　　===========================================
　　圣诞节特别篇
　　
　　
　　——他们不能不叫我们吃英国香肠啊。
　　——他们不让我们叫它香肠，改叫“乳化高脂杂碎筒”
　　
　　
　　——算了，我们只好绝不松口，反咬回去。
　　——如果您不松口的话就没办法咬回去……
　　
　　
　　——为什么这么突然呢？
　　——首相说是便于接班人参选，所以肯定不是因为这个。
　　——那为什么？
　　——有各种神奇的流言。左翼说他是中情局的密探，右翼说他是克格勃的密探。
　　
　　
　　
　　——大臣，我听到的完全不同。说有价值一百万的南非钻石藏在唐宁街10号的保险箱里。但这只是流言。
　　——真的假的？
　　——真的。
　　——这么说唐宁街真的有钻石。
　　——有吗？
　　——你说有的。
　　——我没说。
　　——你说了！你说有流言，我问真的假的，你说是真的
　　——真的只是流言。
　　——你听说这是真的。
　　——真的只是听说。
　　
　　
　　政治第一定律：只有官方否认的才可信。
　　
　　
　　——信息自由运动进展如何？
　　——对不起，我不能说。
　　
　　
　　——许多人，尤其是总组织秘书，他担心谁当选都会清算对手的支持者，使党派分裂。
　　——所以要另找个折中的
　　——嗯，可塑性强的
　　——灵活的
　　——随和的
　　——立场不坚定
　　——观点不突出
　　——思维不敏锐
　　——没能力改变现状
　　——公认的好操纵，懂得接受引导……
　　——将国家大事留给专家处理……
　　（二人相视大笑）
　　
　　
　　——这一切都是为什么？伯纳？我们在做什么？有什么意义？
　　——我没学过神学，大臣。

From://cinemascopicravings.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/the-suits-of-yes-minister/
Costume design is an important element of characterisation. Invariably, how a person is dressed has an influence on other people’s perceptions of that person, and this fact is just as important in film or on TV. Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are interesting examples of this, as the costume design is very subtle. Indeed, I’ve been re-watching them lately and it is only because I’m a style hack that I noticed the costume design at all. There are three key characters in the series, namely the Minister and later Prime Minister, Jim Hacker MP; the Minister’s Permanent Secretary and later Cabinet Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby; and the Minister and later Prime Minister’s Principal Private Secretary, Bernard Woolley. There are key differences between all three upon which shall be elaborated throughout.

Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) was educated at the London School of Economics, which is actually an extremely respectable but practical university founded in the 19th century, and therefore commands disdain from both Appleby and Woolley, graduates of the ancient Oxford. Hacker tends to dress slightly less traditionally, or perhaps ‘more in tune with the times’ is a better way of putting it. He tends to favour double-breasted suits, which lend him a traditional air of statesmanship. Generally, Hacker ties his tie using a four-in-hand, or “schoolboy” knot. This knot lends a more casual air to the formality of a suit and tie, and appears less fastidious than a Windsor knot, which is often associated with the well-to-do.


<图片1>


Since the Global Financial Crisis, the four-in-had has become popular with politicians again today as politicians strive to be more ‘at one’ with the voters. Hacker’s pocket squares tend to be puffed in his pocket and are usually brightly coloured, dating the programme to a time when many people still wore pocket squares on the daily. The influences on Hacker’s choice of clothing are alluded to in the episode, “The Ministerial Broadcast”, where it is suggested that on television he wear a light coloured, ‘business-like’ suit for delivering no new information, or a dark coloured suit for announcing big changes, in order to appear more sincere. In the elements of his outfits, though, Hacker is dressed like a man of the people, in a manner that is authoritative and yet also friendly.

This is in direct contrast to Sir Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne). An Oxford man with a privileged upbringing, Sir Humphrey always wears single-breasted, two-button suits, usually with a light coloured shirt and pocket square. His ties vary, but all are tied with a perfect half-Windsor (you can tell by the size of the knot). This knot signifies the difference in monetary value of Humphrey and Hacker. Here is a man who is on at least £30,000 a year, according to Yes Minister – this is more than Hacker earns, and it shows! With the exception of the YPM episode, “The Key”, Humphrey never looks untidy or dishevelled, and all his outfits are perfectly tailored. Refreshingly, Sir Humphrey’s suits do not follow the 1980s fashion for having a particularly low gorge (where the collar meets the lapel), and so have not dated at all, as opposed to Hacker’s double-breasted suits, which are a complete product of their age.




In all his behaviour, Humphrey is a stickler for tradition, and his costume design reflects this. As a sidenote, Ian Fleming had this to say about Windsor knots: “Bond mistrusted anyone who tied his tie with a Windsor Knot. It showed too much vanity. It was often the mark of a cad.” Perhaps Hacker should have taken heed of this advice.

Bernard (Derek Fowlds), also an Oxford man from the upper classes, tends towards the same standards as Humphrey, most notably the Windsor knot. Interestingly, however, Woolley’s costuming changes the most out of all the leads over time. Throughout Yes Minister, Woolley is learning the ropes of the civil services, still quite young and green compared to the experienced Sir Humphrey. Bernard, in his youthful idealism, is yet to gain the automatic jaded outlook of Sir Humphrey. Perhaps as a reflection of this, Bernard’s dress sense in the earlier series is quite dandyish. A proponent of the navy single-breasted suit – often a three-piece – Bernard frequently pairs it with pink shirts or the occasional merchant banker, often with a collar pin and cufflinks to boot.





Being quite the (dubiously successful) dandy myself, I would certainly mark Bernard as the best dressed of the three in Yes Minister. However, by Yes Prime Minister, Bernard’s style has toned right down, almost to the same level of tradition as Sir Humphrey. Gone are the brighter shirts, to be replaced with whites and blues the same as Sir Humphrey. This shift in style is quite notable, and I interpret it as a sign of Bernard’s advancing up the ranks of the Civil Service and a consequent maturity – though this is not necessarily reflected in his behaviour and puntastic dialogue! He remains the best dressed, however.

The contrasting styles of all three characters give the audience an insight into their personalities right off the bat, and these insights are later backed up by the characters’ roles in the plots. I’ve been unable to find any analysis of the costume design online, or indeed any comments from the programmes’ creators to back up the interpretations I’ve made here. However, in the book adaptations of the series released in the 1980s, numerous references are made to Ministry of Defence officials wearing baggy blue suits as their civilian uniforms. This leads me to believe that there would have to have been some attention paid to the significance of certain sartorial elements in the design of the show. But, maybe I’m just being over-analytical.

UPDATE 27/09/13: According to S Granville of To Bed With A Trollope, Hacker often also wears a London School of Economics tie, reflecting his alma mater. This makes me think there was lots of attention paid to the costuming, and that perhaps I’m not being as over-analytical as I might have thought…

Three articles of Civil Service: it takes longer to do things quickly; it is more expensive to do them cheaply; it is more democratic to do them in secret



Civil servants are grown like oak trees, not mustard and cress.



A: tell him the unions won't wear it.
B: but they like it!
A: that's beside the point.



A: well, if I might suggest...that we be realistic about this.
B: by realistic, you mean drop the whole scheme?
A: oh, dear me, no! but perhaps, a pause to re-group, allow us to reassess the situation and discuss alternative strategies? a space of time for mature reflection and deliberation?
B: ...yes you mean drop the whole scheme.



A: you are not saying that government the Britain is important?
B: no! it is very important! it's just that I haven't met anyone who's doing it!



A: in the past all local government reforms rebound on us. whenever anybody finds a way of saving money or cutting staff in local government, you find it works for Whitehall just as well!
B: yes, but local government is extravagant, overstaffed, incompetent, whereas we...Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
A：╮(￣▽￣")╭



A: if he does need something to keep him busy, you know what to do? get him to look into civil defense.
B: Civil defense? you mean fallout shelters?o(*≧▽≦)ツ
A: yes, government long ago decided that civil defense was not a serious issue.
B: oh, merely a desperate one!o(*≧▽≦)ツ
A: and it is best left to those whose incompetence can be relied upon.
B: local authorities!o(*≧▽≦)ツ



A: people of local government are either self-centered busy bodies on an ego trip and the other half do it for what they can get out of it.
B: perhaps they ought to be in the House of Commons.



A: where did you get the idea for this dangerous nonsense?!!!
B: from someone...in the department.
A: minister! I have warned you before about the danger of speaking to people in the department! I implore you to stay out of the minefield of local government. it is a political graveyard.
C: excuse me, sir Humphrey, but you cannot have a graveyard in a minefield, because all the corpses would....powwwwww!



A: if local authorities don't send us statistics that we asked for, then the government figures will be a nonsense.
B: why?
A: they'll be incomplete!
B: but government figures are a nonsense anyway.
C: I think A wants to ensure they are complete nonsense.



If the minister is restless, he can feed the ducks in St Jame's Park!



Obviously I'm not a trained lawyer or I wouldn't have been in charge of the Legal Unit!!



Minister: Non-event?
Humphrey: Oh, a brilliant triumph for you of course, minister.
Minister: hmmm.
Humphrey: which is why it's a futile non-event for the press.




A: it's perfectly all right, as long as nobody knows.
B: shouldn't we tell minister?
A: certainly not!
B: but if everybody knows!
A: everybody else. we do not let a minister know what everybody else knows.



A: I can't believe it! are you saying that winning at corruption is government policy?
B: no, no! minister! It could never be government policy! that is unthinkable! ......only government practice...╮(￣▽￣")╭



A: Everything wrong is not having an integrated policy.
B: But we did have a policy before.
A: Did we?
B: Yes, it was our policy not to have a policy.



The ship of state is the only ship that leaks from the top!

<图片1>
——Backbench (backbenchers)后座议员——
Backbenchers are MPs or members of the House of Lords that are neither government ministers nor opposition Shadow spokespeople. They are so called because, in the Chamber, they sit in the rows of benches behind their parties' spokespeople who are known as frontbenchers.
<图片2>
Traditionally, backbenchers were called 'private members'; when a bill is introduced by a backbencher it is still described as a Private Member's Bill.

How effective are Backbenchers in the House of Commons?

While backbenchers are having more of an influence in recent years, they are rarely effective at forming a resistance to the power of the executive, and thus they are really limited in their effectiveness in shaping world events.

From 2010 to March 2015, the government has only been defeated 7 times in the Commons. However the few defeats are often significant- for example the 2013 Syrian civil war motion was defeated by 30 Tory rebel MPS and this in turn stopped the US going to war- seriously affecting global geopolitics in the Middle East.

——By-elections 补选——
A UK Parliamentary by-election takes place when a seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant between general elections. 一种非常规选举，只在议会内有遗缺时进行，以补回空缺议席的余下任期。选新议员期间，其选区事务由相邻选区同一党派的议员代理。（有遗缺原因：有议员辞职/破产/患精神疾病/严重刑事犯罪/死亡）

'Moving the Writ'
Traditionally the Chief Whip of the political party whose MP held the vacant seat will begin the procedure for a by-election. This is known as 'moving the Writ' and takes the form of a motion in the House of Commons.
<图片3>
——marginal constituency 边缘选区——

也叫marginal seat/swing seat: a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election. 各党(或者竞争的主要两党)得票很接近的选区，因此竞争激烈，竞选活动主要开展在这里。美国相对应的概念是摇摆州（Swing state，也称游离州、战场州或紫州）。非摇摆州也称安全州(safe state)，因为某候选人已有足够支持，可以安全赢得该州选票。

Targeting: the concentration of money and manpower in areas where they will make the most difference. 目标竞选：把资金和人力集中在最可能有所作为的地区。

在英国，英格兰中部（Midlands）的边缘选区往往是竞选活动关注的焦点，而不是萨里（保守党选区）或英格兰东北部（工党选区）。05年大选时，自民党把目光瞄准保守党的边缘选区，但这种“斩首策略”（"decapitation" strategy）并未奏效。

在美国大选中，选举团（Electoral College）实行“胜者全得”制（the winner-takes-all System），即把本州的选举人票全部给予在该州获得相对多数普选票的总统候选人，因此竞选资源也多集中于摇摆州。

Pork barreling：The creation of policy that will benefit a particular seat, at the expense of other taxpayers. 政治分肥大多采取直接对某地区或某企业拨款的方法，是争取边缘选区的策略之一。pork barrel一词来源于美国，是攻击竞选对手用的贬义词，在英国叫sweetener, 或election sweetener, tax sweetener. Yes, Minister里有提到过。

资料来源：
Parliament glossary-Backbench (backbenchers)
How effective are Backbenchers in the House of Commons
补选-维基百科
Parliament glossary-By-elections
上议院和下议院
摇摆州-维基百科
政治分肥-维基百科
Marginal seat-wiki