UK’s acclaimed ‘Yes Minister’ writer skewers Corbyn in Times letter on irony
Jonathan Lynn wonders how he could have penned iconic satire, since ‘I am Jewish’ and Labour’s leader ‘says I don’t understand English irony’; episode of show dealt with Zionism
The co-creator of one of Britain’s most acclaimed political satires has taken outraged and bitter, but subtle, aim at Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, over Corbyn’s inflammatory assertion that British Zionists “don’t understand English irony.”
Corbyn’s remarks, merely the latest in a stream of allegedly anti-Semitic utterances and activities by him and other Labour members, prompted Britain’s former chief rabbi Lord Sacks to denounce Corbyn last week as a dangerous anti-Semite. Taking Corbyn’s speech, which was originally made in 2013 but resurfaced last month, to refer to British Jews, Sacks called it “divisive” and “hateful” and charged that it “undermines the existence of an entire group of British citizens by depicting them as essentially alien.”
In a brief letter to The Times of London published Saturday, Jonathan Lynn, co-writer of “Yes Minister” and “Yes, Prime Minister” — 1980s BBC TV comedies that gently skewered the hypocrisies of British government — Jonathan Lynn wrote: “I am Jewish. Although I wrote ‘Yes Minister’ and ‘Yes, Prime Minister,’ Corbyn says I don’t understand English irony. My co-writer Tony Jay [who died in 2016] was only half-Jewish, so perhaps he half-understood irony and was able to supply some. The Labour Party continues to deny that Corbyn is an antisemite but as Sir Humphrey said: ‘Never believe anything until it’s been officially denied.'”
Sir Humphrey Appleby, played by Nigel Hawthorne, was one of the two chief protagonists of the “Yes Minister” shows — the smooth and cynical permanent secretary (senior civil servant) manipulating his idealistic and egotistical minister Jim Hacker, played by Paul Eddington. Sir Humphrey’s task was to ensure that matters were run according to the Whitehall civil service agenda rather than the minister’s, though he was just occasionally outsmarted by his boss. The comedy, a forebear of more biting political satires, was essentially warmhearted, even as it exposed some of the realities of government behind closed doors. It was said to be the favorite TV program of prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who was in office throughout its original run.
Interestingly given the current Corbyn controversy, Zionism features in an episode of “Yes, Prime Minister,” where it is given the show’s characteristically witty but biting satirical treatment, with the UN also getting a savaging in the process.
Prime Minister Hacker is appalled to learn that Britain intends to vote against Israel at the UN and takes up the matter with Sir Humphrey:
Hacker: “And then there’s this business of the UN vote on Israel tonight. The Americans want us to abstain.”
Sir Humphrey: “Well, surely it’s a question of our maintaining our relationship with the Arabs. The power of Islam. Oil supplies.”
Hacker: “Humphrey, I’m talking about what’s right and wrong.”
Sir Humphrey: “Well don’t let the Foreign Office hear you. Well, if you insist on an even-handed approach, the Foreign Office might agree to your abstaining on the matter of Israel, so long as you authorize our man there to make a powerful speech attacking Zionism.”
Hacker: “Surely we should use the debate to promote peace, harmony, goodwill.”
Sir Humphrey: “Well it would be most unusual. The UN is the accepted forum for the expression of international hatred.”
Jonathan Lynn, also a successful Hollywood director with credits including “Nuns on the Run,” “My Cousin Vinny” and “The Whole Nine Yards,” is the nephew of the late Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban.
Labour castigated Sacks for branding Corbyn an anti-Semite, calling the former chief rabbi’s comments absurd and offensive. Corbyn, a potential prime minister as head of the UK’s main opposition party, defended his remarks, insisting that his reference to “Zionists” was not a euphemism for the Jewish people.
In his 2013 speech at the Palestinian Return Centre in London, Corbyn spoke about the importance of history and of how necessary it was for people to understand the origins of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. He then praised a speech he had recently heard by Manuel Hassassian at a meeting in parliament in which the Palestinian ambassador to the UK gave an “incredibly powerful” account of the history of Palestine.
https://youtu.be/rBouC-XpJx4?t=7m4s
Corbyn then added: “This was dutifully recorded by the, thankfully silent, Zionists who were in the audience on that occasion, and then came up and berated him afterwards for what he had said.
“They clearly have two problems. One is that they don’t want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, don’t understand English irony either. Manuel does understand English irony, and uses it very effectively. So I think they needed two lessons, which we can perhaps help them with.”
