Did Tory leader David Cameron mean to base his speech about cutting the cost of politics on one of TV’s legendary Yes, Minister scripts? No, seriously, that is what he seems to have done and though it has its funny side it could be a bad omen. Sir Antony Jay, one of the creators of Yes, Minister, fears that if Mr Cameron does reach Number 10 his cost-cutting drive could be stymied by the Whitehall machine in just the same way as the fictional Sir Humphrey Appleby ran rings round Jim Hacker, his minister. (Sir H always insisted that when it came to wasting public money civil servants were the experts.)

In one early episode Hacker resolves to slim down the civil service. Sir Humphrey retaliates by proposing cuts in ministerial cars, private office staff, etc but he warns there will be resentment if the pain is not shared equally.