Official Secrets (Yes, Prime Minister)

Infobox UK Television Episode
Title = Official Secrets
Series name = Yes, Prime Minister


Caption =
Series no = 2
Episode = 2
Airdate = 10 December 1987
Writer = Antony Jay
Jonathan Lynn
Producer = Sydney Lotterby
Director =
Guests = Antony Carrick
Denis Lill
Episode list = List of "Yes Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" episodes
Prev = Man Overboard
Next = A Diplomatic Incident

“Official Secrets” is the tenth episode of the BBC comedy series "Yes, Prime Minister" and was first broadcast 10 December 1987.

Themes

The theme of a civil servant leaking information which contradicts the version given by ministers (the unnamed official at the Energy department) and the desire of the civil servant for a "clear conscience" (Bernard Woolley) is similar to the case of Clive Ponting. Ponting was prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act for leaking information which indicated that when the British sank the Argentine battleship "General Belgrano" during the Falklands War it did not actually constitute a threat to the British Task Force sent to retake the islands.

Plot

Jim Hacker is chairing a Security Clearance Committee, which is discussing the publication of his predecessor’s memoirs. The Solicitor General is happy for the latest chapter to go unchallenged, but Hacker is less so. The previous Prime Minister has cast aspersions on his successor’s ability when Minister for Administrative Affairs. The Solicitor General states that as they can’t suppress anything on grounds of security, the PM will have to seek redress through the courts if he believes that he has been libelled. However, even if he accepts the Solicitor General’s reasoning, Hacker is adamant that Chapter 8 must not be published. (This is despite the fact that an earlier, more complimentary chapter had been leaked to the press.)

The next morning, not only has Chapter 8 also been leaked, but Hacker’s attempt at censoring it has as well. An infuriated PM summons Sir Humphrey Appleby, Bernard Woolley and his Press Secretary, Bill Pritchard, to the Cabinet Room. Hacker instructs Bill to tell the assembled journalists (non-attributably) that Chapter 8 is a “pack of lies” and that his predecessor is going “ga-ga.” Bill paraphrases it into more acceptable language and leaves. Meanwhile, the PM is determined to find the person responsible for the leak.

Hacker has dinner with Derek Burnham, one of the newspaper editors who ran the story. The PM formally asks him to retract it and print “the truth,” but Burnham refuses—unless he has hard evidence. Much to Bernard’s horror, Hacker promises him the minutes of the Security Clearance Meeting, which will bear out his stated position.

His conscience troubled, Bernard goes to see Sir Humphrey and informs him that the minutes of the meeting are not yet written, and that the PM has asked for them to be falsified. Sir Humphrey is nonchalant, and explains that the purpose of minutes is not to provide a written account of a meeting, but instead to protect people. They allow a pause where anything regrettable said in the heat of the moment can be safely put to one side and not appear in the official record of events. In this instance, the PM said that he accepted the Solicitor General’s reasoning—and that is all that need be mentioned. Bernard leaves with a much clearer conscience.

The next day, Bernard is walking up to the front door of 10 Downing Street and is ambushed by a posse of Fleet Street hacks. They ask him why it has taken so long to publish the minutes of the PM’s meeting, when Hacker had cleared them days ago. Bernard gives the Official Secrets Act as the probable reason for delay and, before he has realised it, has told the press what is tantamount to the PM being above the law.

Bernard seeks a word with Hacker, and confesses his blunder. The PM is exasperated and calls in Sir Humphrey and Bill Pritchard. The Cabinet Secretary attempts to defend Bernard by clarifying that some breaches of the Official Secrets Act could be construed as “unofficially official,” while an off-the-record press briefing might be described as the opposite. Hacker is unimpressed and Bill suggests that they distract the journalists by feeding them an alternative story. Sir Humphrey suggests the expulsion of 76 Soviet diplomats, which is standard civil service practice for killing press stories. In the meantime, Hacker wants his leak inquiry “rigorously” pursued: something for which there is almost no precedent.

When the leak inquiry reports, the culprit is found to be the Energy Secretary’s press officer, who was present at Hacker’s meeting, and apparently acted under hints from the secretary, whom the ex-PM had mentioned as being the most competent Minister of the previous administration. Hacker wants to prosecute the press officer; however, Sir Humphrey informs him that if the case is to go ahead, then Special Branch would also like to investigate the earlier leak, which, in all probability, was of Hacker’s doing. He protests that it was “harmless,” but as Sir Humphrey points out, either both leaks are harmless or neither. Since sacking the Energy Secretary and/or his press officer would also cause more trouble than it’s worth, they both agree that the best course of action is to expel 76 Soviet diplomats.

Episode cast

Quote

cquote2|Sir Humphrey: It’s up to you, Bernard. What do you want?
Bernard: I want to have a clear conscience.
Sir Humphrey: A clear conscience.
Bernard: Yes.
Sir Humphrey: And when did you acquire this taste for luxuries?