A Very British Democracy | Yes, Prime Minister | BBC Comedy Greats

[@BBCComedyGreats]

"We gave the architect a knighthood so that nobody would ever say that!"

[@davidmouser596]

Just googled the National theatre images, god what a dump.

[@hidayatsatari1315]

😀😀😀

[@jonathanfraser321]

The extreior is a concrete nightmare- the auditoria are pretty good

[@rjjcms1]

Several years before I first went there and clapped eyes on it and its concretre jungle surrounds,I read a magazine article that said it looked like a concrete carrot pulled half out of the ground.

[@TerryTheNewsGirl]

My favourite line ever!!

[@rezimonavardisashvili393]

"Universities" "Both of them" One of the great lines from magnificent series

[@mmuhsin400]

i dont get it..

[@edmckay8647]

@@mmuhsin400 you obviously didn't go to Oxbridge University 😆

[@MarkJohnson-ro1ed]

@@edmckay8647 Cambridge is better!

[@aaronleverton4221]

@@MarkJohnson-ro1ed Whoosh!

[@pathart8854]

Most excellent . Never be confused between hystoctacy and hypocrisy sir

[@jameskvo]

"This is a *British* democracy, Bernard" - genius!

[@EmmettMcFly55]

I love how shocked and indignant Sir Humphrey sounds when he delivers the line about British democracy. Like he can't believe Bernard was naive enough to actually *believe* all that nonsense about how the power should lie with the voters.

[@stevenredpath9332]

Da Comrade. It lies with oligarchs.

[@FIREBRAND38]

Oh, please. The best model for democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting for what's on the dinner menu.

[@cmm5542]

@@FIREBRAND38 That is the funniest and most pertinent thing I ever heard.

[@futurethinking]

@@cmm5542 But it's true, civil service was at a time there to moderate the worst impulses of politicians, Thatcher got rid of it and the country has been going to shit since then. And, I don't want any local politician to be in charge of anything, I'd rather have the civil service in charge.

[@infogang3603]

"British Democracy [...] is an aristocratic government machine tempered by occasional general elections" is a painfully accurate description

[@clovermark39]

Yes scarily accurate even more so now!

[@saturnsandjupiters358]

true of all liberal democracies; not just ours!

[@rahulnamboodiri6660]

Funny how we said that about Greek democracy in history and yet nothing has changed

[@kitty6720]

"Universities... Both of them" 🤣🤣🤣

[@iggyzeta9755]

My favorite line in the whole sketch!

[@ahmadhasan8355]

@@iggyzeta9755 can you please explain what he means by 'both of them'?

[@spudskie3907]

@Ahmad Hasan It is in reference to Oxford and Cambridge. All the other universities don’t matter.

[@ahmadhasan8355]

@@spudskie3907 Thanks a lot.

[@kitty6720]

@@iggyzeta9755 Definitely the highlight :-).

[@lazaroskarmaniolas7410]

"If the right people don't have power, do you know what happens? The wrong people get it!" This quote works on so many levels

[@jonathanfraser321]

Just lookat the Republicanparty in both HousesofCongress- even after Trump!

[@catmonarchist8920]

@@jonathanfraser321 Nobody has power in the US. You have to get everything through the house, senate, supreme court and presidency so everything gets watered down to the point nobody is happy and no party can get an agenda through. The Americans just fight wars over minute wedge issues as a result.

[@markharlock6474]

@@jonathanfraser321 Well I'm looking forward to the midterm elections in November with great excitement, the popcorn will be ready..!!

[@cmm5542]

The right people aren't power hungry of course! They just don't want the WRONG people to get the power 😁. Oh, it most definitely works.

[@Mediatech492]

"The trouble with democracy is that they let folks vote for the guy I don't like." - Archie Bunker

[@josemaria8177]

The greatest documentary about politics ever produced

[@ZATennisFan]

Exactly and it's not only about politics. The things they satirise are true of any large organization. Almost inevitabily the bureaucrats take over....

[@craigfowler7098]

Exactly why Margaret Thatcher was a fan.

[@misacugarte6871]

I agree 😂

[@timmyp34]

" months of fruitful work". Classic

[@Bagster321]

Humphrey must have lost his mind when Tony Blair allowed Scotland and Wales to have their own parliaments.

[@wiszak9370]

Humphrey suicided when Scotland had a referendum.

[@davidlewis726]

Your comment brings to mind a few lines by Jeremy Hardy, when talking about Americans and alien abduction...''Have you ever noticed it always seems to be in the deep south? Just what any self-respecting extra-terrestrial expects to find up the backside of a deranged Texan.... Tony Blair, most probably.''

[@BlueAxeRacer]

No he was jumping for joy, for it just meant even more jobs for civil servants and more ways to maintain the status quo. Regional parliaments are the definition of controlled opposition.

[@andyrob3259]

The thing is Blair thought he was being clever and they would forever thank Labour. Instead like the Tories those areas don’t give a flying f about Labour. Instead of unity we have division. No wonder it’s easy to push the British around.

[@ChartreuseDan]

Humphrey must have lost his mind shortly before he entered the civil service.

The look Sir Humphrey gives at the beginning is a textbook example of a "withering look". You literally see Bernard wither under this glare. :D

[@RayBrookes1954]

That withering look from Nigel Hawthorne would stop a panzer tank.

[@victorhung6204]

Absolutely epic, no words can describe it. And even more ironically, still valid today.

[@edmckay8647]

More valid than ever

[@Synthonym]

I do find it deeply upsetting that you could air this series again in it's totality, changing absolutely nothing, and it would still be relevant. Literally nothing has changed in thirty years

[@edmckay8647]

@@Synthonym thats how the establishment want it and that's how it stays

[@victorhung6204]

@@Synthonym Imagine you still find empty hospitals in 2020, other than the phone I am using, not much changes at all....... Very ironic........

[@seanjosephhayes]

@@Synthonym The politician and the nature of power and subsequent corruption never change.

[@tobys_transport_videos]

What Sir Humphrey is trying to say, in his usual roundabout, upper class way, is that bureaucrats like Bernard and himself need to be kept _"gainfully employed!"_ 😂

[@LordOfLight]

No he isn't. You missed the point. They need to be employed in order to retain power.

[@tobys_transport_videos]

@@LordOfLight I think you'll find that goes with what I said.

[@Spinnermist]

@@LordOfLight It can be all things - Humphrey justfies keeping himself being employed to retain power to prevent "the rabble" taking over. - of course he'll only admit, even to himself, to being purely driven by the last. Humphrey has only part of a point of course - you have to preserve stuff because when it's gone it's gone, but you also need to look at what needs changing for the future, as well as being pragmatic about what's happening right now.

[@cmm5542]

@@Spinnermist Yes, I like your point. Part of the delight and humour of Yes Minister for me is that Humphrey is almost never COMPLETELY wrong. He always had 'part of a point.' The joke came in because he was also almost never completely right. If he'd just been completely wrong all the time, it would have gotten boring. The grains of truth consistently turned on their heads and inside out made for the most priceless comedy ever.

[@garthreid7114]

Ha ha ha, that was so funny, I think I'm going to choke on my own vomit, you just crack me up, honestly, that was an incredible comment I, I, I, just can't bear it😂😂😢😢😅😅😅🤣🤣😭😭😭😂😂😂😭😀🤣

[@chrisreay7033]

Is it wrong that the longer I'm a civil servant the more this makes sense? County Councils really are utter amateurs when it comes to getting stuff done correctly

[@capcompass9298]

The smaller and less powerful the council, the more tyranically they hold on to their power.

[@onehairybuddha]

Is there some level of government that can get stuff done correctly?

[@ChartreuseDan]

That's exactly why budgetary decisions were devolved to local councils

[@Spinnermist]

@@capcompass9298 indeed less responsibility and less power means you get people volunteering who are just looking for the appearance of power "John Smith, member of the council" - empty titles.

[@catmonarchist8920]

Devolution of power is a siren song because these people are rarely held accountable. People vote for who they like in Westminster mostly rather than performance and people blame Westminster whatever goes wrong so they have a blank cheque (NI assembly elections excluded)

[@whophd]

This may be the most philosophical moment of the entire series. And in the light of how politics has changed in a generation hence (partly in reaction to what Yes Minister has taught politicians to do), it’s incredibly poignant.

[@ishure8849]

G'day BBC greats, no country can surpass the British when it comes to comedy. There are some excellent comics from all countries but you people are the best 😂👍🇦🇺.

[@knightoyin6500]

Best political show the UK ever made. Too much truth and humour.."They will want more power"

[@thomasjames6680]

Derek Fowlds wonderfully understated performance as Bernard really caps off the interplay between the three principles so well. And his trademark "Gosh!" whenever he is taught a lesson in the truth behind politics by Sir Humphrey, Hacker, or both, showing his innocence.

[@plangineer1375]

Sir Humphrey represents the bureaucracy, Hacker the politicians and Bernard the people. Wonderful set up of the main characters. I always love the episodes where Hacker gets one over on Humphrey. It give one hope... usually. This show is still so relevant today. The writing was absolutely spot on. Wish it hadn't ended so abruptly.

[@peterbassey9668]

….the Royal Opera House into a bingo hall!!! Hahaha 😅😅!!!

[@VersusARCH]

I consider the "I voted for Kodos" bit from the Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" the best piece of political satire that ever came out of the USA, and this clip is the best piece that ever came out of the UK. Masterful writing and acting.

[@emjackson2289]

Well I do believe I'll vote for a third party!

[@alanmoore291]

Some of the greatest dialogue, scripting, acting and tv.

[@Francisqolito]

This is probably the greatest piece of theater ever!!!

[@justinmorgan2126]

"...the Universities.. both of them" HAHAHAHAHAHA

[@Delightfully_Witchy]

"Do you know what happens when the right people don't have power? *THE WRONG PEOPLE GET IT!"* History has shown that the man is absolutely correct on this point, even if context muddies it a bit.

[@edpatel713]

You got that right 100%.

[@emizerri]

Humphrey and Bernard are the wrong people.

[@cmm5542]

One of the best lines in the series. I agree with Humphrey here undoubtedly, but I'm not entirely sure he qualifies as the 'right' people. Don't tell him I said that, please 😄

[@ngocminh3648]

Thanks for uploading! Genius script!

[@dubey_ji]

You from Vietnam ?

[@andreashaynes3346]

Humphrey and Bernard 🤣🤣🤣

[@peterbassey9668]

Sir Humphrey to you, if you would.

[@jeroenharingman9576]

I was way too young to appreciate (or even watch) this back in the day. But I enjoy watch these clips immensely. I should download entire episodes...

[@RagnellAvalon]

If anyone's thinking this two years later, the series is available through BritBox.

[@afia_begum_chowdhury]

"tempered by occasional general elections" xD.

[@ArchieFatcackie]

This is priceless, absolutely priceless.

[@libtardsrus7823]

Imagine the BBC having genuinely talented and funny writers!!!

[@patricklamshear1806]

Never happen,the BBC is a law on to themselves. 🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@atulvaibhav5376]

Back when not everything was seen through the lens of DIE : diversity inclusion and equity.

[@libtardsrus7823]

@@atulvaibhav5376 or in other words totally unwatchable!!!

[@mrbojangles8133]

talented writers, remember those, they used to be quite popular back in the day

[@chrislyne377]

I can't help it. The older I get the more find I agree with Humphrey 😅

[@georgebuller1914]

Me too! LOL

[@LordOfLight]

And me. Look what happens when the "ordinary voter" gets power. Brexit.

[@atulvaibhav5376]

@@LordOfLight Look what happens when "experts" have power : 2008 global financial collapse.

[@atulvaibhav5376]

@@LordOfLight What you said is entirely unfair and statistically incorrect. One 'bad' result can't nullify all the good aspects of a system.

[@LordOfLight]

@@atulvaibhav5376 Which "experts" had the power? Bankers? You can hang the lot of them for all I care. The 2008 crisis was certainly an indictment of the way things are done now, but this in no way implies that things would be better if power were more devolved. A passing acquaintance with human nature will tell you that. And it should be clear that I don't condone Sir Humphrey's view on account of Brexit alone - you know what an "example" is, right?

[@solarwind907]

I loved this show! I guess I’ll have to pay somebody so I can watch the reruns. It was friggin hilarious!

[@darreng745]

DVD is for sale at Asda if you are in the UK

[@solarwind907]

@@darreng745 thanks, not in the UK but there’s probably somewhere in the US I can get access.

[@danielandries3240]

All episodes are on boo tube.

[@CauliflowerMcPugg]

So bloody true.

[@dubey_ji]

Months of fruitful work 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@yuecao2140]

Masterpieces that will never be obsolete.

[@jacklinders7495]

This is british comedy to the best!

[@richardelson3261]

Brilliant pertinent and timeless

[@jkolorath]

At least i think i did... That is I am not wholly against it.. Athough there are many convincing and some may say conclusive evidence against it.. Turned that around like a pro dear Bernard 😅

[@Walterwaltraud]

Timeless.

[@SV-wu2my]

Benard comes like a school boy to get lessons from Sir Humphrey. Their language, punchlines, facial expressions, and handling issues are admirable. Heart to heart, they wanted British democracy surviving with full power to bureaucracy. Sir Humphrey said it all.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

"This is a british democracy!" lol that has never not been true

[@MajorJJH]

It's 2023, I'm nearly 40, and I wish there were more Humphreys in politics.

[@andreasbracke1997]

Fantastic scene! So much truth in it

[@SuperAna1954]

Priceless

[@colonelx185]

T H I S I S A B R I T I S H D E M O C R A C Y

[@偉享林]

Analogous to British sausage. (Xmas special: party games)

[@colonelx185]

@@偉享林 Aka the H I G H F A T O F F U L T U B E

[@cmm5542]

It is indeed, sir.

[@dale9724]

My parents were both public servants. This was their favourite comedy of all time. Mine, too. 🇨🇦

[@baardkopperud]

"Months of fruitful work!"

[@akifiskandar4186]

Coming from a country that applies the Westminister system of parliamentary democracy, I can relate with this scene especially at 2:43 - 3:04

[@sallyviel3297]

Watching from Auckland New Zealand 🇳🇿

[@neville132bbk]

Ah yes.....Mr Goff under close scrutiny..and don't even mention racially based "authorities".

[@patsmart194]

Connor, Sir Humphrey is very snobbish about universities. He's an Oxford man and considers Oxford and Cambridge the only universities of any consequence. Hence "both of them".

[@mccobsta]

This still very relevant and that's horrific soild show way ahead of its time

[@knititwearit]

No it’s all in Ecclesiastes. Nothing new under the sun

[@cmm5542]

@@knititwearit I've been trying to remember that exact verse while reading the comments here! Thanks for putting it up.

[@richardelson3261]

I’ve never come across better comedy writing.

[@ericsonamaral7895]

Sir Humphrey is closer to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle!

[@robski39]

That "Bafoon" sounds like it was directed at Johnson and company. Lol

[@Reggie_91]

It's a pitty Tony Blair didn't have Sir Humphrey as his Cabinet Minister

[@Srindal4657]

"You see once they get established they will insist on more power. And the politicians will be too frightened to withhold them so they will get regional government." Tbh this sounds pretty good to me.

[@Maius26]

Yes, a Parliamentary Democracy.

[@matthewdeepblue]

I think the only problem with this is, I live in the United States... We actually have a lot of regional power, Europeans often don't understand how much individual control a state has, and in my own state of Kentucky how much individual power a county or city has. I remember when people were calling for justice for breonna taylor? Europeans for like why doesn't the president just step in. An Americans were like why doesn't the governor just step in. The fact of the matter is the governor basically did everything he could, it fell down to individual local law. Finally it did get passed up to the state, but only after protests. But even then it fell to the attorney general, in the state of Kentucky that's an elected official. The governor is actually his big rival. The attorney general is a very avid supporter of police, and America that translates to me there are in favor of large scale incarcerations and lack of a police accountability. Now yes technically the president actually could have done something, they could have launched a full scale investigation into the investigation. Oftentimes States throw that up to the federal government just out of fear, if they get caught doing something wrong even accidentally it's all over. But Trump didn't do that, and Biden did issue an investigation but not a lot has come from it. I'm just saying hyper local government does have some problems. It falls victim to the local autocrats / plutocrats... Basically the local politicians are the flunkies of the old Rich families or the police unions or whatever

[@Spinnermist]

Can't the state abolish the city laws on core stuff, or make the police state funded? Policing is 150 years old, and so are these institutions - with modern communications it makes no sense for every little town to have its own police department with no oversight, and it depends on the individual sheriff + police who are a law unto themselves.

[@matthewdeepblue]

@@Spinnermist just it they legally cannot. Now for instance during the civil Rights movement there were sheriffs who actively engaged in illegal activity which violated federal law which gave the federal government the right to come in and arrest them and temporarily shut down the county government, well at least the county Police department. However that is all. People are surprised I think just how much individual state power each state has. It's a lot like the European Union. You understand the European Union was literally invented by the United States. I mean after the second world war we quite literally created it. The same way the European Union can't step in and push out governments, so it is in the United States. Also if you're wondering why Germany and are large economic powers, it's because after the second World war the United States was able to, because they were the enemy Nations, come in and draw up there economy exactly how they wanted it to be. They decided that Germany and Japan, two countries which are nearly entirely economically controlled by the United States to this day, would become the economic.

[@matthewdeepblue]

@@Spinnermist I do want to say that there are actually State Police in every single state. There are state police, county Police, sometimes City police too, and federal police. There are actually different types of federal police. But now the state cannot abolish any local law enforcement agency. Some states have more regulatory power over them than others but many states have virtually no regulatory Powers unless they are actively and often openly breaking the law in which case they can send in State Police to arrest them.

[@merrymachiavelli2041]

Well, it kinda depends what scale you are looking at? US States have roughly equivalent populations and sizes to European countries. If you are comparing US states to European countries, and the US to the EU, then European 'regions' have a lot more power than US 'regions', in the sense that European countries are a lot more independent relative to the EU (especially, obviously, non-members). Equally, European countries are a _lot_ more culturally dissimilar to each other than US states. Even if you are looking at an intra-sovereign level, some European countries are internally quite federated, with Switzerland being the most extreme example. Even larger states which are formally unitary governments (like the UK and Spain) do have a quite considerable devolved powers, which would in-practice mean that things like policing issues would be handled by devolved governments (although in the UK it's notably asymmetrical, England is governed directly by the UK government, whereas Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (when Stormont is working...) have their own governments with varying amounts of power, and The Isle of Man, Channel Islands and Gibraltar are almost-entirely independent) With very small countries what local government even means gets strange. Like San Marino is an entirely independent country with a population of 34,000. I'm not disagreeing with your overall point, it is true Europeans might misunderstand, it's just a bit of a frame-of-reference issue.

[@grease_monkey6078]

Also Europeans dont understand the meaning of 'The United States of America' they are United but not all governed the same, each state has their own set of local laws and prohibitions that the federal governmemt cant infringe.

[@zico739]

Sorry but Humphrey is right….again.

[@dubey_ji]

Only after the selling of arms

[@cmm5542]

Isn't he usually? 😄

[@Saqux]

"months of fruitful work" :DDDD

[@bzdtemp]

It is funny because it is true. Which of course also makes it sad if you think deeper.

[@Timathius17]

Populism is almost universally regarded as a bad thing, which is essentially what he argues against.

[@5tryk]

"This is a *British* democracy!"

[@davidekstrand8544]

Which season and episode is this?

[@jamesmcgrath578]

Does everybody who watched these series and found them very funny ( as I did ) also realise that it’s basically the truth about western society masquerading as comedy ?

[@MajorSkrewup]

I wish, sir Humphrey as self serving as he was was a brilliant bureaucrat. Wont find his competence today for the most part.

[@colleennobbs7218]

Yes, it’s almost as good as Shakespeare. Very close really….. a descendant!

[@knititwearit]

Yes we see it

[@BicyclesMayUseFullLane]

@@MajorSkrewup See, we pay them too little that they fled into private practices, and all that's left are the idiots. Efficiency, eh? Respecting taxpayers' money, you see?

[@cmm5542]

Oh yes, we do.

[@dubey_ji]

Britain controlled most land in the early days so we all have a very British democracy

[@santiagoflores4913]

And, of course, Sir Humphrey is absolutely correct, that is beyond contention, even today. However, with years, one learns that there are other democracies similar to this British democracy, as described....Chile comes to mind....

[@TheWatchman1893]

Unbelievable this is 40 years old and it represents exactly the modern Tory thought process

[@thatguyfromcetialphaV]

Sir Humphrey: If the right people don't get power, the wrong people get it! Simon Phoenix: You can't take away people's right to be an @$$hole!

[@greatguytv]

23y11y40 years is still good

[@wilsonsoares3542]

Writing this good - really not sure I’ll live long enough to see it again 😩

[@svennielsen633]

"if the right people don't have power, the wrong people will get it. Politicians!"

[@konayasai]

For all that he's wrong, he does have a point. Look what happened when they let the EU membership to go a public vote.

[@rapido2963]

An ancient philosopher once said “The people who believe that they live in a democracy make the best slaves”. We’re taxed heavily, but given just enough to keep us all compliant.

[@dmaxims2206]

If someone wants to study political science they should watch the whole TV series "Yes minister" and "Yes Prime Minister".

[@supertoyg]

It's very very focused on the anglo system though. Some of the elements, like the untouchable administrative body Humphrey heads, are not present elsewhere - typically in "less stable" systems where a lot of the top civil servants are politically nominated and so they change often. It also occasionally trivializes some real tensions in democratic systems.

[@cmm5542]

Amen to that!

[@stephenasbridge878]

“Regional government…” Prescient.

[@MarkJohnson-ro1ed]

This is too close to the truth. I wonder who the mole in the civil service was that gave the writers all the information?

There are documentary clips here (and maybe the full documentary, I can't really recall what exactly I watched) about the show, and they had two "informants" they explicitly name there. Oh, and one of the writers and creators of the show wrote speeches for the Conservatives (including the Iron Lady).

[@sgrannie9938]

Gosh!

[@TalesOfWar]

This sums up why the Tories hate the fact London has regional power and other places around the country are slowly getting it.

[@andik70]

So what happened in 1832 (or the year he was mentioning)

[@seizoen]

I think it references the reform act of 1832

[@grahamblack1961]

The thing is Humphrey isn't entirely wrong.

[@albertjester]

Yknow I'm pretty sure if they re-aired Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister with the laugh tracks removed we'd have an insurrection by the end of the month.

[@1abi07]

Both of them meaning Oxford and Cambridge…. Just to clear the doubt of some people…..

[@magnetospin]

I think Humphrey would be firmly in the BrExit camp.

[@cmm5542]

He was pretty pro-EU in the series . . . But of course, he might have seen a great opportunity to grab control either way in today's political arena. Since Brexit came through in the end, I imagine he would find a way to make it look like it had been his idea and he'd been in favour of it all along!

[@lenno15697]

@@cmm5542 He was anti-Europe but pro-Brussels.

[@jonnnyren6245]

Sir Humphrey could make a systematic democratic dictator. Or is it the other way around? I can see him being a dictator, a VERY BRITISH DEMOCRATIC DICTATOR... 😂

[@hidayatsatari1315]

😎😎😎👍🙏🎉🎉🎉🔥🔥🔥🔥ahh,volcano happiness!...

[@sugarnads]

Hard to believe Humpy acknowledges cambridge...

[@wilfredpeake9987]

This is why I support a system where a council has atleast one person from each level of government to decide on certain policies. Because frankly local governments may have an idea what the people wants and needs but is very easy for it to be taken over by corrupt individuals. While if everything is decided by a centralized authority it just creates loads of inefficiencies and bribery at just larger level. Power should be something that is hard to get and even harder to keep.

[@cmm5542]

That's a good idea. But I fancy it might take a few centuries to actualize it. (I work in the civil service.)

[@wilfredpeake9987]

@@cmm5542 I'm curious what ideas do you think we could implement right now that would be widely accepted right now

[@cmm5542]

@@wilfredpeake9987 For instance, taking two of the minor departments of the civil service (including my own) that both do the same thing in different ways and combining them into one. The work could then be done more efficiently with better communication - but fewer civil servants, and no one wants to take a job cut. In theory my idea isn't unpopular though.

[@cmm5542]

@@wilfredpeake9987 More directly connected to your original point, I've seen instances of attempted collaboration between local and centralized government. The central department lays out the general policy; the local governments adapt it to their circumstances. It sounds well enough in theory; in practice it leaves a lot unaccounted for and there is a great deal of miscommunication. I would say a better idea would be to have it done the other way around: the local governments propose policies that actually suit their local areas, and the central government can then focus on seeing to it that the programme is run efficiently and communication kept open between all the local governments with similar policies. The general government policy would then be forced to take everything into account that the local governments are dealing with, so neither side could get away with taking power over things thoughtlessly not included in the original policy.

[@Newpopcity]

'months of fruitful work'

[@williamwhite7993]

The advert there if this works why not just tell them it sounds to me they just want your money

[@stoyanfurdzhev]

Nothing more to say.

[@Saka_Mulia]

Reminded me of “Communism with Chinese Characteristics”.

[@conservativemike3768]

Interestingly, a Chinese version of this show wouldn’t be remotely funny, and in fact would come off as quite menacing.

[@BicyclesMayUseFullLane]

Because people wouldn't find it as funny. After all, people might think: "isn't this how thing's supposed to be done?" I jest. However, China does have about 2000 years of bureaucratic tradition, so this isn't really anything new.

[@conservativemike3768]

@@BicyclesMayUseFullLane / How true. It’s a rather mundane topic after a few thousand years.

[@sirloinofice]

"Chairman Hacker declares war on Sparrows: Best Bits of Yes Chairman"

[@conservativemike3768]

@@sirloinofice / That’s an old reference very few non-Chinese will understand, but I appreciate it.

[@freakonut]

@@sirloinofice Only in a Yes Minister comment section would I be unsurprised by a Great Leap Forward referemce

[@driveincanada9713]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@wobblytiger6134]

The snp

[@DouEditz]

Haha

[@marksmeaton6218]

A glorious example of comedic writing and acting. A member of a golden generation of British TV comedy. Pity there's been nothing to come close to this for about 30 years. What has happened to British TV comedy? Political correctness I suspect.

[@jm15xy]

"Both of them?" Since when does Cambridge count as a university? :)

[@cmm5542]

Not on my watch! 😆

[@谭润滋]

humphrey only said this to show he‘s generous

[@xanderanderson6673]

Dont talk smack about my Edinburgh university or St Andrews

[@jayturner3397]

Ahh docudrama..lol