American Reacts to Yes Minister Explains the EEC (EU)

American Reacts to Yes Minister Explains the EEC (EU)
In this video I react to Yes Minister explains the EEC in which the Minister and civil servant have a discussion over the merits and benefits of being in the EEC.
Original Video: • Yes Minister explains ...
#YesMinister #AmericanReacts
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American Reacts to Yes Minister Explains the EEC (EU), Yes Minister, Yes Minister explains the EEC, British sitcom, british political satire, Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne, Eclectic Beard Reactions, reaction channel, reactions,

[@davidcook7887]

The best British sitcom ever made. Brilliantly written. Every damn episode.

[@MrJimbaloid]

I'll second that love from Derbyshire.

[@89Keith]

You misspelled "documentary"

[@davidcook7887]

@@89Keith Ware?

[@89Keith]

@@davidcook7887 where you wrote "sitcom" it's clearly a documentary :p

[@HebrewsElevenTwentyFive]

Hear hear

[@januzzell8631]

The writers actually had 2 people within Government, at the time of writing, who were giving them examples of what was happening - and, in fact, some of the examples were SO outrageous, they couldn't use them :D

[@RK-zf1jm]

I ve said it before i think on another reaction to yes prime minister my brother is a fairly senior civil servant for the chancellor and he said basically if you could memorise most of the lines in this show and behave the same way essentially you would blend into the background in westminister.

[@Nounismisation]

One of them was the PPS to the PM... Wow

[@fathertedcrilley3988]

Wales

[@aaronmicalowe]

@@fathertedcrilley3988 Is an endangered species.

[@sim5847]

@@Nounismisation who were they?

[@samkershaw8474]

There is a great accompanying clip "Why The UK Is In The EU" beyond brilliant dialogue.

[@mohsinsyedain1754]

Yes..React to that clip..its hilarious..

[@johncaddick5075]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIe8onVmqrl-oqc

[@davidmouser596]

@@johncaddick5075 Definitely yes;)

[@mervinmannas7671]

The comic timing of these 3 actors was unreal. Nigel Hawthone in particular would go of on monologues often 2 mintues long all shot in one long take and was impecable. They are all gone now but by many will never be forgotten. I still say the funniest episode was how Jim Hacker went from MP to PM changing the series to Yes, Prime Minsiter (Thatcher was a huge fan)

[@jonajacket]

Was that the one about nukes? If so, I agree. If not, it will still be an amazing episode!

[@logicalnetwork1611]

It was not the comic timing but the sheer genius of writer Jonathan Jay

[@ianhere9290]

USA and UK may speak the same language, broadly speaking, but when it comes to comedy, there's a cultural chasm, half a millennium wide.😂

[@idristaylor5093]

The two writers had very different politics and only included material if it made them both laugh. They kept the standard up in each episode of both versions of the show. (The other being "Yes Prime Minister".) I was highly impressed with it all.

[@CEP73]

Wonderful series, with wonderful actors sadly none of them are with us anymore. Miss these well thought, well acted out comedies.

[@generaladvance5812]

Mhmm, there hasn't been another comedy to match yes minister & yes prime minister.

[@Ben-Hollingbery]

The guy in the grey suit is still alive, he's in a series on Sky 1 called COBRA - He plays the Prime Minister

[@thechumpsbeendumped.7797]

@@Ben-Hollingbery Sadly all 3 are dead. Paul Eddington in 95, Nigel Hawthorne in 2001 and Derek Fowlds in 2020.

[@samuelforsyth6374]

yes minister and yes prime minister is the best show ever

[@samuelforsyth6374]

should be compulsory viewing to vote haha

[@richarddimeck4578]

Agree. Theyre on my chrimbo list to be fair

[@robertwright7937]

They've got all the series in Tesco for a tenner. Well worth it.

[@hiramabiff2017]

I have the full box sets of both series, and I cannot express how much viewing hours of pleasure they have given me. E.B covers some of the finest British comedy we have and has done so much for USA/UK hands across the water friendship, I advocate we contact the Home Office to get him a " Honoury British Citizenship ".

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Totally agree....maybe an honorary knighthood from Her Maj,s people, or maybe an honorary Scouser award like Jurgen Klopp...

[@hiramabiff2017]

@@eamonnclabby7067 Or we could just crowd fund, and buy his title like 60% of the House of Lords have done. : )

[@vallee3140]

me too , and yet I hate politics

[@logicalnetwork1611]

I agree EB should also be given an honoury knighthood.

[@martingibbs1179]

This original is so good and so terribly accurate about the real attitudes of the time. They tried to do a remake a few years ago, but it never took off because it didn't seem real enough in my opinion. The scary thing is I really don't think parliament has really changed all that much.

[@petermizon4344]

It's same today nothin ever changes, give with one hand take with another

[@jessicascoullar3737]

They actually had insiders in the parliament feeding the script writers info.

[@michaeldowson6988]

You were watching the wrong remake, try 'In The Thick Of It'.

[@barryhumphries4514]

It seems the EEC (EU) as seen at the time still relates exactly the same today! The gravy train continues for now anyway… 👎👀

[@marvinc9994]

"I really don't think parliament has really changed all that much." It has ! It has more opinionated nonentities than ever before, an almost total absence of 'characters', a timid reluctance to 'offend' anyone, and few memorable speeches - dreary backbenchers often reading _directly_ from their 'notes'. And as for the Common's lickspittle obedience to the latest cruel and absurd dictates of their Globalist Masters......................(supply your own examples).

[@simon8864]

The show is about 35 years old and is surprisingly relevant today ...Great comedy!

[@clarestewart877]

Glad you got back to looking at more of Yes Minister . A brilliant show! 👍

[@dcanmore]

of the same era as Yes Minister I would highly recommend Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy and it's sequel Smiley's People, both starring Alec Guiness as a spy catcher in the British Secret Service. Not a comedy but a great slow burn intelligent Cold War spy drama and insight of Government machinations of the time.

[@Glund117]

It makes it even funnier years later due to it being spot on

[@achloist]

I’m afraid the minister isn’t being 100% honest here. He doesn’t want the directive because he planned to place a huge order for word processors in his own constituency (gaining votes).

[@patdavis6383]

This is one of the cleverest and funniest comedy shows ever produced in the UK. It was massive in the UK and around the world at the time. When Paul Eddington ( The actor who played Prime Minister Jim Hacker) visited Australia, he was greeted as and treated like the actual PM! BTW, if you want to delve into the lesser know UK comedies, try "Drop The Dead Donkey", another clever and hilarious comedy.

[@speleokeir]

Yes I loved Drop the Dead Donkey. The scripts were about current news stories and were so up to date that the actors only got the final script a couple of hours beforehand which was really impressive. For this reason some of it would probably go over the head of someone not familiar with the news stories of the time if they watched them now.

[@andrewdoubtfire4700]

There’s another scene where Humphrey talks about why the British went in to the EU in the first place. All about the same plan the Brits have had for the last 500 years. Really worth looking for.

[@charliegeorge9393]

EEC

[@joaopauloadlergomesdacosta282]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIe8onVmqrl-oqc

[@Si_Mondo]

That strategy is solid too. Why would we want a united Europe just across the channel? European hegemony has never worked out well in history....

[@paul1979uk2000]

@@Si_Mondo The irony is, now that us Brits are not in the EU any more, a united EU is more likely because the UK always tried to put the brakes on it.

[@highpath4776]

Having worked in at least two companies which for the number of nationalities represented it was like the league of nations, one was a smallish company in south london the other a pan national division of a state run enterprise. We had printed up in the tea room at one "Heaven is where: The police are British The chefs Italian The mechanics are German The lovers are French and it's all organised by the Swiss Hell is where: The police are German The chefs are British The mechanics are French The lovers are Swiss and it's all organised by the Italians. (other versions exist)

[@snafu313]

I have that saying on a T-shirt...

[@TheSimmr001]

as long as its not London Metropolitan.

[@ducati916SPS]

One of best Political Comedy Series Britain produced......funny thing is its so true, we are not European we are an island. Fast forward to Brixit...🤣🤣

[@corringhamdepot4434]

Takes me back to working in the 1980s when dumb terminals on mini-computers only did one thing, like word processing. So you had a standalone "electronic" typing pool to do your documents. We had the same thing in the 1990s to do programming, and another system to do data entry. I think in the real world before the Internet, you had common EU electronic document file standards. So you could easily share documents. The EU rules on hardware purchasing were that over a certain value, you had to open the bidding to all other EU countries, and not write the specifications so nobody else could bid on it.

[@darrenbuckley2082]

Priceless and so relevant even today, you need to watch them all my friend.

[@libertinoradio4597]

So glad you enjoyed this. Possibly our greatest ever comedy series. Exquisite writing and expert performances, just brilliant. Funny and intelligent satire. The last time we had any of that here was a series called "Brasseye". You should watch that. It's another contender for the "Greatest UK satire ever" prize.

[@henryviii6341]

The late great Mrs Thatcher’s favourite programme. enough said. timeless brilliant searingly relevant in 2021. to truly understand the LEVELS of humour and way beyond that encapsulated in this micro-segment and the entire series itself you really HAVE to be born here in England , to have worked in Govt or the City or Big Business. you can watch it from USA just as a comedy but it’s so so much more. So true to reality it’s unique it’s scary too. brilliant acting in a typically understated English way with the humour is as dry as a Gordon’s &Tonic 🍸 you gotta realise what is said is not what is REALLY said or meant and behind each line or so many layers which any political Brit is familiar with. It’s from 1970s but is as relevant in 2021 Britain as 1961 1971 or 1981 Britain.

[@pittarak1]

The late, but not great Thatcher.

[@susanbooth6793]

The British Civil Service adopted a number of phrases from the show which are still in use. Probably the most famous is "That's a courageous decision, minister," meaning "Go with that one, mate, and your political career is at an end."

[@user-kf9cx1wl2r]

I'll make a prediction now: in two or three hundred years, episodes of this show will not only still be watched and enjoyed (goodness only knows what devices people will be watching them on), but in the ranks of great English political satire, they'll enjoy the same status that the works of Swifte and Chaucer do nowadays.

[@basildon9008]

Yes Minister (and it’s sequel Yes Prime Minister) were Margaret Thatchers favourite shows. We even have stage play versions which are very funny 😁

[@chrismorris76]

This was one of my father's favourite shows (and Yes Prime Minister). He was a civil servant for about 50 years and scenes like this would have had him in stiches... :)

[@paulhanson5164]

To this day we in the UK dismiss senior civil servants as "Sir Humphry's" such was its impact. You need to watch whole episodes, these scenes are often cut before they've even finished.

[@maryhook9478]

Peter Hitchens has hit the nail on the head worth watching his lecture. The EU is the continuation of Germany by other means. You can download it on youtube.

[@lorettamoulpied5293]

This was Margaret Thatchers favourite comedy tv sitcom, cleverly written and enough truth to be credible.

[@davidcook7887]

You have been saying that would be doing this again. The best British sitcom ever!

[@AlexFlanderzzz]

Glad to see you back up and running EB- you make every viewers day a little brighter.

[@vaudevillian7]

Yes, Minister / Prime Minister is a phenomenal series. If you want a more recent take on British politics and government then I highly recommend The Thick of It

[@keatsmeister]

Absolutely. I love the fact that we didn’t get more series from The Thick Of It because the writers felt they couldn’t come up with anything nearly as crazy as what was actually happening

[@vaudevillian7]

@@keatsmeister same with The Day Today from the same writers, well Armando at least

[@stevecarter8810]

4:16 is local to the time and place : olive mountain and retsina lake reference the "butter mountain" of the time, which was the metaphor for the unintended consequence of EEC quotas leading to large amounts of food going to waste. "some of your friends are Greeks" is a reference to the fact that Prince Consort (the queen's husband) is from a Greek family

[@petercrowley453]

This series should be readily available on BritBox, no DVD player necessary.

[@stu2333]

Thanl you!

[@Happyheretic2308]

The dvds are better, as Britbox is guilty of cropping episodes of classic comedies for "pc"/"woke" reasons.

[@marcusalford1750]

Congrats on 70k subs your deserved all the subs and praise you get ive been here since 25k subs and i've enjoy every minute of it 👍👏☺

[@alfiourso4587]

You’re gonna love both series. The word play is amazing. Best comedy series I’ve seen and its still relevant today.

[@robertward7382]

I often see clips of this scene, but the funny thing is how they completely reverse positions on Europe part way through the episode! Great series, gets better with every watch.

[@matthewsharman591]

This is one of Britains finest sitcom's, also the follow up series Yes Prime Minister. The series deep political jargon and even some situations were real as the writers had two high profile politicians at the time consult with them over the scripts and that was kept a secret for years.

[@abzzeus]

The Greeks have defaulted on debts numerous times. When they went into the Euro, the books were like potatoes that had been boiled - for a day and a half.

[@shenysys]

The actor who played Bernard - younger of them was also in Heartbeat.

[@pjmoseley243]

Margaret Thatcher said this was her favorite TV show, because it was so true to life.

[@KeplersDream]

As an ex-Civil Servant, though at a more lowly level, I can say with experiance that this portrayal is spookily accurate.

[@Garryck-1]

I have a friend who's a very highly placed senior analyst in the Australian govt. He assured me a couple of years ago, that 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister' are extremely accurate portrayals of the way politics works in Australia to this day.

[@sharonsnail2954]

@EB Got to dig out that DVD and watch FULL episodes.

[@paulbradnick786]

Without doubt,the best written and performed show ever on British T.V....untouchable.

[@htershane]

Much as I appreciate an American appreciating our general appreciation I would give the episode “moral dimension” a go just cos It’s as close as this show goes for slapstick. Basically “hacker gets drunk”. After you’ve done that move on to “Yes Prime Minister”

[@kirstymorgan4770]

Check out "The New Statesman" starring Rik Mayall (of "Bottom") - hilarious 1980s comedy show about a Tory MP!

[@paulgilson2347]

This and the thick of it are the best two shows to understand British politics.

[@petcatznz]

In a word, this is a perfect example of satire. Wonderfully executed too.

[@adamhofman4933]

Yes minister is my favourite documentary!

[@jonathanalves5078]

One of the best written series ever and only gets more relevant with time

[@AncientHermit]

Glad you did this one. The whole "on screen format " business is looking very tidy now, good job Alan, be well.

[@shadoman7682]

This was such a good show and so funny because it so mirrored the truth.

[@felonmarmer]

The word processing standard is something that actually went through the EU and they settled on ODF (Open Document Format) as opposed to Microsoft Word. Microsoft had to add ODF as an option to Word after complaining bitterly about it (actually they did it quite quickly). It was to make sure that the various governments could pass documents amongst themselves digitally without any compatibility problems and not force people to make Mr Gates richer as a result.

[@allenwilliams1306]

ODF was a necessary choice since not everybody uses a Microsoft OS or word processor (I never would). Governments, wanting to put stuff on line increasingly, could not use a proprietary format obliging people to purchase a commercial product.

[@janickpauwels3792]

The EU has set up many of those standards, which has an impact on the whole world. A recent one is forcing the use of USB-C as a common charger for ALL mobile devices. This will make life much easier for the consumer. Apple will moan about it, but they will have to adopt it. If you buy an iphone in the future in the US, and it has a USB-C port, you can thank the EU for introducing/forcing that standard.

[@jonjohnson2844]

@@janickpauwels3792 another one the EU are claiming when the market is going that way anyway - the proposed a standardised charger about 7/8 years ago and never mentioned it again. Apple have had USB-C on iPads since 2018.

[@Muckylittleme]

@@janickpauwels3792 The EU is currently fining Poland £1M per day for not accepting diktats on how their own judicial system should work. The EU demanded they do what they say, the EU accused them of running their own affairs, the EU oversaw the court ruling, and the EU found them guilty and the EU issued the fine which is directly payable to them. And remainers still don't understand it is there to destroy sovereignty and a huge criminal protection racket?

[@lucylu9624]

@@janickpauwels3792 never knew that was EU thing. Stupidity of brexit. We'll end up having to comply with most EU regulations anyway but will have no say in writing them and def no veto like only us, the French and Germans had.

[@Alcagaur1]

As someone who has taught C1 and C2 (Advanced and Proficiency levels) English with the aid of this gem of the first water, this is probably my single most used scene.

[@aselene8890]

Always loved Yes Minister and YPM.

[@Lord_Ronin_The_Compassionate]

The character playing “Sir Humphrey” is Nigel Hawthorne*, an absolutely amazing actor. He had to memorise various long winded, long worded speeches for every episode and every one of them was funny as heck and unfortunately very, very accurate. Looking back at the stories as told in Yes, Minister and later on, Yes, Prime Minister it was an incredible insight into the workings and thought processes used by our politicians and their enemies aka the Civil Service. * that’s not to say that Paul Eddington as the Minister, or Derek Foulds as Bernard the PPS were anything other than amazing in this series.

[@tonygriffin_]

Ah, 1980...when 'word processors' were actual machines, not an app. Mind you, I'd been using a Telex machine and a hand-cranked photocopier barely 3 years earlier so they probably seemed like magic to me. A time when one could enjoy slamming the receiver down to end a call...there's no app to replicate that...yet.

[@ftumschk]

I asked my parents for a word processor in the 1980s, but they got me a food processor by mistake. I ended up mincing my words.

[@snafu313]

Later on in the episode, you find out that the "wrong people" is actually a fellow minister by the name of Basil Corbett. This sets up one of the funniest lines in the episode: Hacker" Don't forget there's Basil Corbett. He's out to get me Annie (Hacker's wife): He's out to get everybody.. Hacker: He's a smooth tounged, hard-nosed, cold-eyed, two-faced creep. Annie: Why is he so successful? Hacker: Because he's a smooth tounged, hard-nosed, cold-eyed, two-faced creep.

[@mwscuba]

It’s almost like the NI protocol which we signed was just a smoke screen too get it past parliament 😂🤷‍♂️

[@travelledfar]

You do not need to study at university for years to understand British politics. Just watch this series. The Sir Humphry character is an almost perfect representative of the civil service, (even today 2021). A certain Mrs M Thatcher stated on serveral occasions, she recognised the civil servant attitudes, as displayed in this programme.

[@lesliemackay7853]

There's a minor, original reason for the European experiment. At the time of the USA was playing its minor local disagreement, Europe was having to deal with Napoleon. A hundred years and countless deaths later in interminable, wars still following eternal precedent, humans got so good at it that for the sake of effeciency they mechanised it! Twenty years later, in keeping with the schedule, Europe was at it again. This time mechanisation and technology were vastly improved, birth of cruise missiles, invention of ICBM etc. So come the end of the second half of the WW the leaders of the UK, France and W Germany had decided that the fixture couldn't be retained, not even if the schedule was extended from the approximate 2 decade time scale, it just wasn't viable any more. Churchill lost His job, Labour had other priorities, France and W Germany got started. By the time that the UK was ready De Gaulle, to experienced to be an Anglophile, had influence and a veto. When the UK were eventually allowed to join it was to late to manipulate a controlling interest, engineering petty squabbles was still possible though. The other one I like is the UK problem with its gristle filled fat tube, a perfectly contrived drama for local/media consumption that was inconsequential everywhere else.

[@rnsc8342]

France required the original basis of the European coal and steel community for an even narrower reason -to have sight of and some control over German industry and the thrrat that Germany would rearm again, Russian occupation of East Germany and NATO with forces from the US, France and Britainin west Germany solved that problem after about 1950 , but the original idea grew into the EU, and still was seen as a way of controling Germany after the experience of 1870, 1914 and 1939.

[@NxDoyle]

The dynamic is that of a politician trying to effect change and a senior civil servant trying to maintain the status quo. Like Basil Fawlty, who thought that his hotel would run beautifully were it not for the guests, Humphrey believed that government would work perfectly if not for politicians.

[@annedunne4526]

As someone who is not British it's interesting to see how little the British understood then and now the idea of countries working together for the greater good. No country has to accept anything it doesn't want but most decisions are for the benefit of the member countries. Indeed many of the regulations were British innovations.

[@DeneF]

Thanks Mr E.B.

[@farmduck2762]

When they're talking about the word processor format, you have to remember that this was made in 1986. There wasn't any standard format back then and cross-compatibility was limited. There were multiple different operating systems and many brands came with their own OS and WP.

[@snafu313]

Watch the whole episode... actually I think the funniest bit in the entire episode is later when he's sitting at home with his wife. He gets a phone call from Brussels asking him if he wants to put his name up for consideration for one of the EU commissionerships. He gives the reasons why it would be the end for him in British politics and then he explains what it would entail and in the process convinces himself and his wife that it might be worth a shot.

[@annemariefleming]

This, in part, explains why many of us campaigned to leave for 40 years. We paid in a huge amount more than we received back. We, with the French and Germans, subsidised all the other members. And this show portrays an accurate picture of the corruption and greed og politicians and and public servants who made a lot of money and influential associations by our membership.

[@lextex3280]

i remember watching this when it first hit the tv,

[@sas2300]

The eec or eu as it is now operates similarly to states in the US. The states try to operate in the best way for the people that live in those states whilst the federal gov seems bent on issuing edicts which it then expects the states to carry out which seem designed to make life as difficult as possible.

[@mickohara7268]

Glad you enjoyed that. Please embrace Blackadder, you'll giggle and laugh. Anyhow much joy.

[@dnr2089]

Yes Minister was one of the cleverest and funniest things on British tv. It showed politics as it really is….baffling, ludicrous and self-serving! Everyone should watch it. True class! 🤣👏👏👏

[@juliehanns802]

Very, very clever writing and an amazing cast made this outstanding tv.

[@Cabdrum1]

Well done for taking this on 👍. There's a lot British subtlety in this than many a Brit will miss ....

[@martinhunt4086]

Hi, You missed the best bit of that scene ..it comes next ! Made in the 1980s and is still relevant in the most today

[@patricke2088]

The best documentary on Government ever made

[@craigmorris4083]

Ah, Sir Humphrey Appleby GCB KBE MVO, truly an amazing example of a civil servant. My favorite quote from this silly character must be this from 'The Skeleton in the Cupboard' (Series 3, episode 3): "The identity of the official whose alleged responsibility for this hypothetical oversight has been the subject of recent discussion is not shrouded in quite such impenetrable obscurity as certain previous disclosures may have led you to assume; but not to put too fine a point on it, the individual in question is, it may surprise you to learn, one whom your present interlocutor is in the habit of defining by means of the perpendicular pronoun." To which Minister Hacker asks "I beg your pardon" to which Sir Humphrey replies simply, "It was I". :D

[@generaladvance5812]

I loved the episode about UK defence and nuclear arms. Well worth a watch.

[@danielvincent5306]

Please react to them discussing scrapping Trident and the nuclear deterrent. That and 'the key'.

[@AlexFlanderzzz]

I highly recommend you watch 'The Thick of It' if you enjoyed this. The writer, Armando Ianucci was regularly asked by people within UK government how he was so accurate and predicted real events. You'll love it. Give this a like to let the boss man see...

[@PeterPrestonUK]

One of the most cutting political comedy ever written. Ministers of the time had said it was uncomfortable because it was so accurate.

[@gwaptiva]

Your first comment nails the weirdness of the British attitude to the EU :D It's not surprising that De Gaulle was dead set against letting them into the EU

[@Ceremonial1000]

Yes, Minister 😂❤

[@joaopauloadlergomesdacosta282]

If you liked this clip, I suggest you watch another one, where Humphrey explains what Britain is ACTUALLY doing inside the EEC! kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIe8onVmqrl-oqc

[@stevenr6397]

deffinately, i actually thought thats what this video was going to be!

[@chrispalmer7893]

This video provides some clue as to why Brexit happened. Not because it's an accurate representation of the EEC (the EU as it became), but because it's an accurate representation of the cariacature that the Brits were constantly sold about how it works. It leans heavily in on the idea that the EU is a centralised ogranisation with Brussels dictating everything in the minutest detail. I'll let them off for not mentioning the European Parliament because that was still very new when this was made, but the reality is that "Brussels" (a synonym for the EU Commission) issues fairly broad directives and it is for the individual member states to decide how they are implemented. That the French would typically respond with a fairly brief summary of the most light-touch methods to comply, whilst the UK would respond with enormous documents covering the issue in the most minute detail is an indictment of British, not European adminstration. It would make sense that Sir Humphrey would defend the bureaucracy of the EU because in truth it was the British Civil Service he represents that were responsible for almost all of it. There is another element to the anti-EU sentiment of some in the UK, and that comes from a steady drip of stories about ridiculous regulations that were about to be imposed "by Brussels". A law demanding that bananas be straight and the abolition of prawn cocktail flavoured crisps are examples I still sometimes heard referenced today. They are instructive because neither of those stories were even vaguely true. Indeed, the prawn cocktail crisps thing is still sometimes brought up by Boris Johnson, who made that story up in the first place. He was responsible for about 25% of these types of stories, all coming from the few years when he was Brussels correspondent for the Telegraph. He has openly admitted that he had a stored paragraph in his computer "Britain stands alone tonight in Europe..." which he'd then follow with whatever nonsense he chose to invent. During the Brexit campaign an advert was run by the Leave side talking about "Regulated EU" man in which a man is seen going about his morning routine and on-screen captions flash up all the EU regulations that control what he's doing. When an enterprising journalist took the time to freeze-frame and investigate that advert it was found that most of the regulations listed were entirely fictional, and the few that were real didn't even vaguely relate to what was claimed. As for why certain parts of the media engaged in this gaslighting for the duration of our membership, you only have to look to Rupert Murdoch's explanation of why he was anti-EU. He said "when I go into Downing Street they do what I say; when I go to Brussels they take no notice" (something that for me is sufficient on its own to justify permanent British membership of the EU). Add to that dash of UK exceptionalism, a large dollop of "but we won the war!" and you get the biggest single act of self-harm perpetuated by any democractic nation in modern times...

[@alansmithee8831]

Hello Alan. I probably commented this before, but I used to watch this in fits of laughter at university with Alok Sharma, who is the UK minister organising the Glasgow climate conference. Still so funny.

[@kennethgarland4712]

Certain uncanny parallels that may interest Americans: US: Former colonies get together for a single common cause (to get rid of the British) EU: Former independent countries get together for a single common cause (free trade) US: Colonies (now independent states) agree on the Articles of Confederation, which provides for limited joint government, including a joint assembly, but each state must agree on action to deal with fundamental issues. This turns out to be a very cumbersome arrangement. EU: Hitherto independent member states agree to a series of treaties providing for limited (but increasing) joint government, including a joint assembly, but each nation must agree on action to deal with fundamental issues. This turns out to be a very cumbersome arrangement. US: Hardened federalists sneakily introduce a federal constitution, giving extensive power to the federal assembly and government, and individual states have limited power to disagree. There is no mention of the possibility of secession from the Union. EU: Hardened federalists sneakily devise a treaty giving yet more power to the EU administration, although for the present every state has to agree on fundamental issues. They grudgingly accept provision for the possibility of secession in the expectation that this will never be used. US: One Southern state, followed by others, secedes from the Union on the grounds that the federal government and assembly is interfering too much in state policy. There is a long and bloody Civil War. EU: One state secedes from the Union on the grounds that the central administration is interfering too much in its policies. Rumours that others may consider following their example. Outcome...............?

[@himarkburdett9378]

Yes Minister was made in the 80s it's a brilliant comedy but also accurate satire. I suggest the Christmas special of 1984 called party games

[@vaughanellis7866]

Further on in thatepisode Sir Humphrey explains the civil service's reason why the UK entered the The EEC/EU and it is very close to the truth.

[@aranerem3767]

Have you seen the benny hill sketch called Murder On The Oregon Express?

[@autarchprinceps]

Well Brexit has proven this wholy inaccurate. We Britains have managed to make more inefficiency, red tape, bureaucracy and simultaneously not do enough for public services all on our own, while the united EU is better of than ever. Turns out putting together your experts and interests into one pool and deciding a lot of things once properly actually works out quite well, certainly in comparison to the alternative. As for the loss of national control, since every nation's government has in effect a veto power, in the end every nation did support everything, and be it only because they got others to agree to their wishes in other matters. So what control exactly is supposed to be lost here? The only thing the EU lacks as a compromise towards that very fact, is the ability to strongly enforce things in the way a federal government would towards its states.

[@timpreston459]

Try to imagine as an American how it would feel if you were part of an institution that dictates how you run your country from let’s say Mexico City where they have their headquarters part of the year the other part of the year they will all shift off down to Buenos Aires. How would you feel about losing control of your country and at the same time you would be paying vast amounts of money into the common pot where much of the money simply disappears. The accounts for the EU have never been signed off because of this disappearance of money. Boris Johnson has made a cock up of so many things but at least he took us out of the EU

[@paul1979uk2000]

Is it really that different from the US federal government dictating terms to US states or the UK government dictating terms to its members in the union? Yes I know two of them are countries whiles the EU is not but the fact remains that decisions are being made by a power far away. But like all things, there's a balance of power from country and EU or from the US to states. But the argument you are using could also apply to the US and UK, but in any case, if done right, there is a lot of benefits to being in the EU just like there is for US states being in the US. As for the UK, we've been a joke ever since we left the EU and things don't look to be getting better with the civil war that's been building in the Tory party thanks to Brexit, in other words, don't expect any real change once the new leader is in power because the leadership isn't the problem, the party is, especially the ERG part of it and until us Brits get that, we're just going to keep lurching from one mess to another that will in the long run lead to Scotland and Northern Ireland wanting to leave the UK, after all, would you want to be ruled by this Tory lot? What's funny about it, the Tories pushed for Brexit with the aim of keeping the party together and yet Brexit has created more divisions for the party that they could be heading for a slaughter at the next election.

[@casinodelonge]

It's also timeless. The same things are still being said today as they were then, and in the same way.

[@rtoobe2]

Have you seen any Dads Army? Comedy timing at its best!!!!

[@thatnorwegianguy1986]

The whole line about the Germans is so brutal lol

[@annalieff-saxby568]

The writers said that they satirised *government* not politics. IMO that's why Yes, Minister will always be relevant - and laugh out loud funny.

[@geeShahGee724]

You need to do more yes minister reactions

[@jumpferjoy1st]

You must try this short sketch. "Yes Minister Special Sketch (Christmas at the ministry)- 1982" on KZbin. Hilarious!

[@leeandrew5638]

You should check out the man who squeezes muscles searching for purple Ali from Liverpool?

[@deepfriedhamsters3273]

Happy Halloween to to you and yours from me and mine !

[@joshuagarnham9703]

Full episodes are on dailymotion.