From Yes Minister:
Superbly written and acted, as usual.
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Amusing & true about the city, & a nice bit of propaganda right at the end “BoE & all at the tax payers expense” – no wonder Thatcher like the prog – it sometimes provided useful grooming for UK serfs both with respect to money and the UK civil service.
Back in the day, when it first went out, I always used to say that Yes Minister was a Documentary not a Comedy Show.
I think time has vindicated that idea.
It’s a pity there’s no-one clever enough around who could translate Richard’s Tax Wealth Report into “Yes Minister 2024”. Perhaps the best way to tackle the “How do you pay for it” and associated Flat Earth Economical ideas is to laugh at them.
I can just picture a Sir Humphrey Murphy on Politics Live being asked “But how are you going to pay for it?” And instead of the normal “Well, we’ll grow the economy and act fiscally prudently,”
Instead they are laughed at and met with “Oh don’t be so naive, of course there are ways to fund things. There always have been, it’s just that we don’t talk about them in polite society do we”.
I know it’s my fantasy world playing out here, but I really do think comedy would be a good vehicle for discrediting Neoliberalism.
They hate being laughed at
“I can just picture a Sir Humphrey Murphy on Politics Live being asked “But how are you going to pay for it?” And instead of the normal “Well, we’ll grow the economy and act fiscally prudently,”
Instead they are laughed at and met with “Oh don’t be so naive, of course there are ways to fund things. There always have been, it’s just that we don’t talk about them in polite society do we”.
That’s it in a nutshell Tom.
Yes… delicious comdey, but that last line was entirely at one with the taxpayers money myth – although the reference to the Governor of the BoE was the real truth. The blended punchline illustrates rather neatly how that pretty central fatal economic confusion could be and was so easily spread.
But scrumptious acting and especially by Richard Vernon.
Dear Richard,
Thank you for posting this – absolutely splendid. And good to be reminded of Richard Vernon, dependable as always.
Best,
Lawrence
What an intelligent way of teaching comedy is!
Thanks for sharing this and a best wishes to everyone.