I do not know exactly when the idea for Yes, Minister began to take root, but it must have been more than fifteen years ago. It was in April 1965 that the Home Secretary told the House that 'no useful purpose' would be served by re-opening the inquiry into the Timothy Evans case. This was despite a passionate appeal from Sir Frank Soskice, who said in 1961: 'My appeal to the Home Secretary is most earnest. I believe that if ever there was a debt due to justice and to the reputation both of our own judicial system and to the public conscience ... that debt is one the Home Secretary should now pay.'

LRB 22 May 1980 | PDF Download