American Reacts Earn Your Honors | Yes, Minister | BBC

Original Video: • Earn Your Honors | Yes...
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[@marcushertz4434]

Politicians decide what to do, the civil servants are the ones who carry it out. So yes, this show makes fun of how politicians are so dependent on the civil servants that the civil servants are really the ones in charge.

[@reluctantheist5224]

Humphrey is like a very high company secretary who does the boss's orders. The bosses ( the Primeministers) may leave or retire ( get voted out ) but the secretary stays on . The secretary does whatever the new boss ( newly elected Primeminister )wants but in the way he ( the secretary)has always done it .( The new boss might not like it but the secretary isn't going to change for him )

[@ajaxlewis7664]

I'm a civil servant. It's a bizzare world. But I've developed a sort of Stockholm syndrome with the place. There's no going back now. I'm what they call a "lifer".

[@geoffw8565]

How sad !

[@ajaxlewis7664]

@@geoffw8565 Eh... Hell isn't hot when you're one of the flames.

[@ajaxlewis7664]

@SmearCampaignUK I missed the blatant red flag when they said the contract needed to be signed in blood...

[@Ayns.L14A]

the civil service are people who are employed by the government , they are career office workers, who do all the paperwork for the government , no matter which government is in power.

[@vaudevillian7]

Haven’t watched a Yes Minister reaction on here for a long time and we’re still explaining the Civil Service to Connor probably at least a year on 😂

[@Steve-gc5nt]

James Bond is a Civil Servant.

[@2-facedsob756]

A field civil servant

[@dcoughla681]

In 1963, Elizabeth Taylor was the highest paid actress in the world for the movie, Cleopatra. She was a beautiful, Oscar winning actress. Her movies include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof & Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Aside from her movie career, she was a shrewd businesswoman. She amassed an incredibly lucrative diamond collection over her career given to her for free by the Hollywood studios including the top quality Krupp diamond (now called the Elizabeth Taylor diamond). She was the first actress to have her very successful own perfume brand business. She is most famous for having 8 husbands & being a social campaigner including donating generously to charities for causes like HIV/AIDS. She would have been still enormously rich by the time Yes Minister aired.

[@davidrenton]

also she married about a billion times , but had only 1 true love Richard Burton

[@pomerau]

She was then the only person I think to have a permanent suite at The Dorchester Hotel.

[@chrismackett9044]

The civil service are people employed by government ministries to carry out the functions decided on by the government. They range from very junior clerical staff to people like Sir Humphrey who is Cabinet Secretary. There has been a blurring between politicians and civil servants with the appointment of political advisors, such as Dominic Cummings who saw career civil servants as being subservient to him.

[@torbjornkvist]

Civil Servants are employed by the state to assist elected politicians in their work. There are different traditions in the US and the UK. In the US, a new president (government) has its own civil servants that change from one administration to another. In the UK and Europe as a whole, the civil servants are basically the same whoever wins the elections. Humphrey has served ministers of both left and right, making him neutral/cynical about politics and very powerful.

[@joyfulzero853]

There are about 9,000 Federal Civil Servants of which, in 2016, around 4,000 were 'political appointment positions'. The incoming administration had to review; they can of course confirm the same people in position but some 1,200 need to approved by the Senate.

[@stephendisraeli1143]

Elizabeth Taylor- The most famous female film star in the world. At the time, anyway.

[@patk3522]

She was born in England which surprised me that she never got any honours

[@stephendisraeli1143]

@@patk3522 Honours for entertainers really started with the Beatles M.B.E.'s. She was famous too early.

[@patk3522]

My most favorite film of hers that I've watched a 100 times is Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, she looked and acted amazingly.

[@patk3522]

@@stephendisraeli1143 That makes no sense to me because Richard Burton got the CBE.

[@booth2710]

I liked The Two Ronnies Elizabeth Taylor Joke on their news round sketch. "Elizabeth Taylor has taken steps to cure her lob sided walk. She has had the carpenters in to fix a lock on her drinks cabinet "

[@MrBulky992]

"A Bennite solution" - this refers to a prominent left wing politician and former government minister of the time, Tony Benn (Anthony Wedgewood Benn) who was implacably opposed to "patronage": the handing out of honours and other perks by governments to influential people essentially and underhandedly to gain their support and cooperation. He was opposed to noble titles and class hierarchy in general. Ironically, he himself had inherited the hereditary title "Viscount Stansgate" and an accompanying seat in the House of Lords on the death of his father and he was then forced to renounce his title in order to remain a member of the House of Commons. Incidentally, he was related to the Wedgewood pottery family, Charles Darwin of evolution fame and the musical composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

[@nbartlett6538]

Looking at the honours lists from Bojo and Truss... it seems Benn might have been onto something?

[@knudplesner]

* A civil servant is a public employee. and is not: * A politician, who is elected based on a number of votes to hold an office

[@worthalook4870]

Excellent comedy series, very well written and acted

[@pineutrino]

Flustered, eh? If you want to see Humphrey genuinely going to pieces, there’s an episode where a huge press story breaks about a former naval base’s land being suddenly publicly available and snapped up for pennies on the pound by property developers via a bureaucratic land-zoning error thirty years earlier, costing the UK government tens of millions of pounds. Half the episode involves everyone wondering “who could possibly have cocked up that badly, we’ll kill him, but it was decades ago”. Turns out it was Humphrey. He spends the episode’s other half having a million heart attacks. It’s amazing.

[@ed_ward_1430]

You could say that the Civil Service is the 'engine room' of the U.K. Government.

[@paullynch8240]

Said engine having five reverse gears and one forward- just in case a minister approaches from behind.

[@josefschiltz2192]

Basically, Humphrey said that we must look before we leap!

[@polythenewrappedme6102]

How many times do you have to be told: a civil servant is NOT a politician ? They are government employees that work for whichever government is in power continuously. In American speak, regardless of Republican or Democrat, these people remain in the government department to implement what a minister wants, within the constraints of parliament. They are not affiliated to a political party. They are employed just like any other employee in the private sector. They are not voted in. Nor are they accountable for government policy. The Cabinet decide policy, the civil service implement it.

[@stephendisraeli1143]

P.S. The U.S. has civil servants too, if not by that name. All the employees of a government department who stay in place when political parties are defeated and give way to their opponents. In Jim Hacker's department, that means everybody except Jim. They are supposed to be neutral between parties.

[@nbartlett6538]

That's true, except in the US federal government the top-level people -- around Humphrey's level and a couple of levels down -- are all appointed by the incoming President, and they have to be approved by the Senate. This is part of why there is such a long gap between the election in November and the inauguration in January.

[@joyfulzero853]

@@nbartlett6538 The transition used to be even longer. In 1933 it was changed (20th Amendment) from March 4th to the present January 20th to shorten the period of the "lame-duck" incumbent.

[@nbartlett6538]

@@joyfulzero853 Yes I'm aware. Of course it made a lot of sense when it took months just to get a message from one end of the country to another!

[@nedludd7622]

Maybe I mentioned it before, but Bernard explained what the honors mean.

[@garyford3533]

she is a film star.

[@skipper409]

Civil servants, in US terms, would be anyone from the guy at the public desk of the DMV, right through to the President’s chief of staff……non of them are elected, they’re all government employees, and non of them are appointed by politicians either. They’re functionaries….they run the passport office, work as clerks in government departments etc……but some are very senior and run the whole Dept., implementing the decisions of the politicians. When the government political party changes after an election, e.g. from Republican to Democrat, the civil servants remain doing what they did for the previous administration

[@coneheadjill]

All governments have a civil service. The US has a civil service. These are all the civilian workers that work for the government. To work in the civil service, you usually have to take a civil service exam. Right now here in Canada, all our federal civil service workers are on strike. 100,000 out and 55,00 staying on doing the necessary services. The United States has approximate 2.1 million civil service workers. And that is the federal civil service. Each state would also have its own thousands of civil service workers.

[@Ben-xe8ps]

You don't know who Elizabeth Taylor is? She is one of the most famous actresses of all time.

[@Bazroshan]

I don't think her films are given much of an airing these days, that's the problem.

[@Oxley016]

Lad in the UK here, I have no clue about her but had heard her name before.

[@Abbadonhades]

Civil servants are the administrators of policy, the bureaucracy.

[@AlanChurch]

Civil servants are permanent staff that deal with the administration of government, regardless of what elected ministers are in place. While the ministers may make policy, the experience of the civil servants can steer the ministers away from solutions that may be extreme or harmful. In this way a government can serve in a more balanced manner.Minister, this has been suggested before by your predecessor and it was found to be ....Bernard, Sir Humphrey and Arnold are civil servants.

[@Bridget410]

This programme was brilliant. UK civil service and Government. 😂😂😂

[@benellis9665]

It was Bernard's idea. Humphrey would have killed him if he'd known.

[@TheBeatleman66]

or worse, transfer him to the Solihull office of Vehicle Licensing and Registration, which in Civil Service speak in this show means the end of a promising career or a dead end job and forgotten till you are retired !!!

[@paulguise698]

Hiya McJibbin, Margaret Thatchers government watched one episode of Yes Prime Minister, told BBC (British Broadcasting Association) to send all the episodes around to number 10 (Downing Street) and the Cabinet watched them all together, they couldn't believe how true but with a comedy angle it was, this is Choppy in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England

[@KeplersDream]

Former Civil Servant here. No, civil servants are definitely not politicians. Whatever their personal political persuasions individually, collectively as the Service they are and must be politically neutral. There's actually a Sir Humphrey scene that goes into that. Politicians are responsible for policy ideas, civil servants are responsible for carrying them out.

[@boothy201]

it's the civil Services job to prevent the politicians from actually making any difference.

[@debkendall]

Civil service - people who have jobs in the government - not the elected politicans. it is a most brilliant series

[@johnkemp8904]

There is a telling scene in one of the ‘Yes Prime Minister’ episodes in which Bernard goes around to the prime minister‘s flat above number 10 Downing Street and is speaking to Mrs Hacker who is engaged with stacks and stacks of Christmas cards. She tells Bernard that she has a pile of cards which need stamps on them which are going to party constituency associations. Bernard is quick to point out to her that unfortunately he cannot help her with them because they come under the heading of “political activity” with which, as a neutral civil servant, he cannot get involved. I seem to remember that she then decides that they are going to non-political recipients, and then Bernard happily helps her!

[@emdiar6588]

The civil service are like factory managers and foremen, who organise production, while the government is the board of directors who decide what the factories make. It's one thing to pass a law, it is another to do all the admin. It takes hundreds of faceless people, between legislation being passed in parliament and it being implemented. These people are civil servants. Garbage collection, town planning, all the things that are the cogs in the machinery of society, may be controlled by politicians, by they are run by civil servants.

[@catherinewilkins2760]

Civil Servants are the full time employees that are supposed to cary out the work. Clerical people, they are not supposed to show their politics. Just do the job. Higher ranked Civil Servant may give an opinion on pit falls or difficulties with government proposals. Some departments are good, others are notoriously inefficient. They are NOT politicians.

[@lalayastill610]

Elisabeth Taylor played Cleopatra

[@revbenf6870]

The junior Civil Servant is called Bernard, not Burnett as you keep saying it. It's just that English people don't usually pronounce their "r" s ...

[@Mixcoatl]

"A civil servant, also known as a public servant, is a person employed in the public sector by a government department or agency for public sector undertakings. Civil servants work for central and state governments, and answer to the government, not a political party." Basically, the Civil Service help government ministers do their job. They're independent (or should be), and do not leave their job when a new government comes in. Also, it's Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

The closest you'd get to Humphrey's role in the US would probably be White House Chief of Staff, or Counsellor to the President. Bernard's role is similar to a Presidential aide - but unlike in the US, they're not political appointments, but are rather the permanent staff of the Houses of Parliament, serving whichever part is in power. The British Civil Service is - to quote Wikipedia - "the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government."

[@raymondbullock4557]

Members of Parliament ( MP's ) are elected where the largest party form the Government of the day and run the country forming policy and legislation. The Civil Service is supposedly subservient to MP's and is the administrative arm of Government its purpose is to put Government plans into practise, they are not elected. The comedy here comes from the suggestion its the Civil Servants who seemingly have more influence over policy and running of the country than the Government itself. The tail wagging the dog in laymen terms.

[@trevorlsheppard7906]

Conner ,Government's come and go ,Prime Ministers & Ministers come and go , MP s come go ,they are all transitory, but the civil servants are usually permanently employed to help carry out/ put into practice /implement the policies of government.There is joke/half truth that civil servants run the UK not the government,which in a way isn't bad thing and not entirely untrue ,when a government is voted out the civil service can temporarily run the country till a new one takes over ,it helps ensure a smooth transition from old government to a new government,it's quite hard to understand if you don't understand the functions of various government departments /members .It will help if you Remember Civil Servants aren't politicians or members of government and can't make policy or govern ,they can only advise make suggestions to government .Which is what Sir Humphrey spends most of his time doing😊😅😅😊.

[@AndyLeMaitre]

You forgot yourself there Connor, you said Bernard correctly. 🤩

[@Ben-xe8ps]

Civil Servants are not politicians. They are Government employees. Without wishing to sound rude, this has been explained to you several times.

[@glenmcinnes4824]

in American terms a Civil Servant could be anyone from the girl at the DMV all the way up to Dr Anthony Fauci. Politicians play politics and eventually get around to setting policy. Civil Servants try to make that ever darn brain fart the politicians are passing off as policy work, and if senior enough advise them to try to make sure the more stupid ideas don't make it in to a policy document.

[@Kian2002]

This is very relevant with Boris Johnson and Liz Truss both submitting controversial resignation honours lists.

[@marieparker3822]

The Civil Servants are supposed to be politically impartial, and present FACTS to the elected politician to enable her/him to make a considered decision according with Government policy - which the Government has been elected on.

[@josefschiltz2192]

Wht? . fgh . .pfft! . . ag . . hft tfah . . fgh . . huh? Who's Elizabeth Taylor?? (Composed) - Dear fellow. Look up the movie 'National Velvet. That's Elizabeth Taylor.

[@bashab3098]

The civil service implements policy and administers actions all governments are obligated to carry out under the law ,

[@kristianturner6391]

they just dont make intelligent comedies like this anymore which is a damn shame

[@dinger40]

The US Administration changes with each new POTUS, UK Civil Service stays the same even if the PM changes.

[@garyford3533]

civil service -admistraters.

[@2eleven48]

Who is Elizabeth Taylor? Ye gods.....

[@andrewhallam237]

Why do you get so hung up on what a civil sevant is? The US has the exact same thing, google The United States Civil Service.