“Yes, Minister” on Government Failure
posted by Gerard Magliocca
Courtesy of Sir Humphrey Appleby, here are the five standard excuses for mistakes in public policy.
1. The Antony Blunt Excuse
“There is a perfectly satisfactory explanation for everything, but security forbids its disclosure.”
2. The Education Excuse
“It’s only gone wrong because of heavy cuts in staff and budget which have stretched supervisory resources beyond the limits.”
3. The Concorde Excuse
“It was a worthwhile experiment, now abandoned, but not before it had provided much valuable data and considerable employment.”
4. The Munich Pact Excuse
“It occurred before certain important facts were known, and couldn’t happen again.” (The important fact: Hitler wanted to conquer Europe.)
5. The Charge of the Light Brigade Excuse
“It was an unfortunate lapse by an individual which has now been dealt with under internal disciplinary procedures.”
June 8, 2009 at 5:23 am
Posted in: Humor
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Responses (2)
K. D. - June 10, 2009 at 8:59 am
Can you provide a link?
Gerard Magliocca - June 10, 2009 at 9:34 am
K.D.,
There are several websites (mostly run by fans) that have quotes. I’m going off of my DVD set of the series, so I don’t have a specific link to give you.
Gerard
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