Author: Jonathan Lynn
Antony Jay/
Publisher: BBC Books
Year: 1997
Language: English
Pages: 514
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0563206659
Description
It is a fascinating diary, distinctly funnier, and has an entertainment and educational value which is unique. It is uproariously funny and passes the acid test of becoming more amusing at every subsequent reading.
These collected diaries of many million s of words have been reduced to one relatively short volume. James Hacker kept his diaries from the day on which first entered the cabinet. He dictated them into his cassette recorder, sometimes on a daily basis, more often at weekends when he has his constituency home. His original plan had been simply to make notes for his memory, but he soon realized that there would be intrinsic interest in a diary which gave a daily picture of the struggle of a Cabinet Minister.
This book covers Hacker's entire career as the Minister for Administrative Affairs. This was his first experience in government. Theoretically it gave Hacker a roving brief, to investigate and control administrative inefficiency and overspending throughout the system, wherever it was to be found. Unfortunately the Department of Administrative Affairs was not only created to control the Civil Service, it also had to be staffed by the Civil Service. Readers will therefore be well aware of the inevitable result of Hacker's LABOURS.
Nonetheless, it remains a slight puzzle to the editors of this volume that Hacker, who was such a master blurring and obfuscation in his own political dealings, should have found such difficulty in dealing with a group of civil servants whose techniques were essentially similar. Hacker's innocence, as revealed in these diaries is quite touching.
Contents
Editors' Note
1. Open Government
2. The Official Visit
3. The Economy Drive
4. Big Brother
5. The Writing on the Wall
6. The Right to know
7. Jobs for the Boys
8. The Compassionate Society
9. The Death List
10. Doing the Honors
11. The Great Pole
12. The Devil you know
13. The Quality of Life
14. A Question of Loyalty
15. Equal Opportunities
16. The Challenge
17. The Moral Dimension
18. The Bed of Nails
19. The Whisky Priest
20. The Middle-Class Rip-Off
21. The Skeleton in the Cupboard