Yes, Prime Minister (TV Series)
Official Secrets (1987)
Derek Fowlds: Bernard Woolley
Photos
Quotes
-
Sir Humphrey Appleby : Bernard, the minutes do not record everything that was said at a meeting, do they?
Bernard Woolley : Well, no, of course not.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : And people change their minds during a meeting, don't they?
Bernard Woolley : Well, yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : So the actual meeting is a mass of ingredients for you to choose from.
Bernard Woolley : Oh, like cooking.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : Like--no, not like cooking, Bernard. Better not use that word in connection with books or minutes. You choose from a jumble of ill-digested ideas a version which represents the Prime Ministers views as he would, on reflection, have liked them to emerge.
Bernard Woolley : But if it's not a true record...
Sir Humphrey Appleby : The purpose of minutes is not to record events. It is to protect people. You do not take notes if the Prime Minister says something he did not mean to say, particularly if it contradicts something he has said publicly. You try to improve on what has been said, put it in a better order. You are tactful.
Bernard Woolley : But how do I justify that?
Sir Humphrey Appleby : You are his servant.
Bernard Woolley : Oh, yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : A minute... is a note for the record and a statement of action, if any, that was agreed upon. Now, what happened in the meeting?
Bernard Woolley : Well, the book was discussed, and the Solicitor General advised there were no legal grounds for suppressing it.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : And did the Prime Minister accept what the Solicitor General had said?
Bernard Woolley : Well, He accepted the fact there were no legal grounds for suppression, but...
Sir Humphrey Appleby : He accepted the fact that there were no legal grounds for suppression. You see?
Bernard Woolley : Oh.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : Is that a lie?
Bernard Woolley : No.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : Can you write it in the minutes?
Bernard Woolley : Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : How's your conscience?
Bernard Woolley : Much better, thank you.
-
Bernard Woolley : Prime minister?
Jim Hacker : Yes, Bernard?
Bernard Woolley : Have you got a moment?
Jim Hacker : Yes, Bernard.
Bernard Woolley : Uh, I've got a problem.
Jim Hacker : Well, get on with it, Bernard.
Bernard Woolley : Uh, yes, Well it's just that, well, I've just been interviewed by the press.
Jim Hacker : You? You gave an interview?
Bernard Woolley : Yes, I'm afraid so.
Jim Hacker : Well, that's not your job.
Bernard Woolley : I know. I couldn't help it. I just - it just happened. They just trapped me into speaking to them.
Jim Hacker : What did you say?
Bernard Woolley : Nothing really.
Jim Hacker : Well, what's your problem?
Bernard Woolley : Well, they were asking me about you.
Jim Hacker : What about me?
Bernard Woolley : About you and the official secrets act.
Jim Hacker : And?
Bernard Woolley : Whether you were bound by it.
Jim Hacker : Of course I'm bound by it.
Bernard Woolley : Of course you are, But it, uh... it might not come out like that.
Jim Hacker : What do you mean?
Bernard Woolley : Well, thinking back on what I said, and what they said, and what I said you said, or what they may say I said you said, or what they may have thought I said I thought you thought, well, they may say I said I thought you said you thought...
Jim Hacker : Go on, Bernard,
Bernard Woolley : Well, I think I said you said you thought were above the law.
Jim Hacker : You said that?
Bernard Woolley : Well, not intentionally. That's just the way it came out. I'm terribly sorry. They were just asking all there questions!
Jim Hacker : Bernard, just because people ask you questions, what makes you think you have to answer them?
Bernard Woolley : I don't know.
Jim Hacker : You've never answered my questions just because I ask them.
Bernard Woolley : I know.
Jim Hacker : Half your lifetime in the civil service, an entire career devoted to avoiding questions, you suddenly decide to answer them today, and to the press! You must have flipped your lid, Bernard!
-
Bernard Woolley : The problem is, the prime minister *did* try to suppress the chapter, didn't he.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : I don't know, did he?
Bernard Woolley : Well, didn't he? Don't you remember?
Sir Humphrey Appleby : What I remember is irrelevant, Bernard. If the minutes don't say that he did, then he didn't.
Bernard Woolley : So you want me to falsify the minutes?
Sir Humphrey Appleby : I want nothing of the sort! It's up to you, Bernard: what do you want?
Bernard Woolley : I want to have a clear conscience.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : A clear conscience.
Bernard Woolley : Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby : When did you acquire this taste for luxuries?