The Minister for Not Listening to People
The sketch:
- (Cut to a 'Nine O'clock News' set. A newsreader is at a desk. Photos come
up on inlay screen behind him. An anonymous minister's photo is on screen.)
Newsreader (Michael Palin): The Minister for not listening to people toured
Batley today to investigate allegations of victimization in home-loan
improvement grants, made last week (photo behind changes to close up
of anothter faceless minister) by the Shadow Minister for judging
people at first sight to be marginally worse than they actually are.
(photo changes to exterior of the Home Office) At the Home Office, the
Minister for inserting himself in between chairs and walls in men's
dubs, was at his desk after a short illness. He spent the morning
dealing with the Irish situation and later in the day had long
discussions with the Manister for running upstairs two at a time,
flinging the door open and saying 'Ha, hal Caught you, Mildred'.
(photo of the Houses of Parliament) In the Commons there was
another day of heated debate on the third reading of the Trade
Practices Bill. Nix Roland Penrose, the Under-Secretary for
making deep growling noises grrr, launched a bitter personal attack
on the ex-Minister for delving deep into a black satin bag and
producing a robe of Euthymol toothpaste. Later in the debate the
Junior Minister for being frightened by any kind of farm
machinery, challenged the Under-Secretary of State for hiding
from Terence Rattigan to produce the current year's trading
figures, as supplied by the Department of stealing packets of
bandages from the self-service counter at Timothy Whites and
selling them again at a considerable profit. Parliament rose at
11.30, and, crawling along a dark passageway into the old rectory
(the camera starts to track slowly into the newsreader's face so that it is
eventually filling the screen) broke down the door to the serving
hatch, painted the spare room and next weekend I think they'll be
able to make a start on the boy's bedroom, while Amy and Roger,
up in London for a few days, go to see the mysterious Mr
Grenville.
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