The Sausage that Brings Isolation: Part 2

As I walked back to our hotel room, the policeman’s explanation for the current security measures of 10 Downing Street ringing in my ears, I felt as though Fiction had let me down.  I knew that was wrong, as Fiction that portrays a current status must be revised for the time, but still!  This was just another result of how unsuccessful I am.  Had I achieved more in my professional career, had I earned more money, had I succeeded in my life-long ambition to become a published novelist…well, okay.  Perhaps I still would have been barred from getting closer to the door of 10 Downing Street.  But at least I would have felt less concerned about the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound.  Thus, we wouldn’t be walking back to a tiny hotel room (nearly the cheapest we could find), but felt more free to take public transportation to plusher digs.  We wouldn’t have had to worry about where we could afford to eat dinner.  We might have felt more inclined to pay the admission charges of either Westminster Abbey or buy a ticket for the London Eye.  If only I had become Someone Important! I railed silently.

After awhile though, I turned my thoughts in a more profitable direction.  Just as rooms will be redecorated and building facades updated, I should have foreseen that the security procedures for 10 Downing Street would evolve with time.  But what truths did “Yes, Prime Minister” teach me that were of more lasting quality?  Certainly the relationship between the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister would remain the same.  As the head of the Civil Service, the primary goal of Sir Gus O’Donnell (the person holding Sir Humphrey’s job) would still be to maintain the stability of government.  Conversely, I imagine that the major concern of David Cameron (the current Prime Minister) would be to keep voters happy with his and his party’s actions, even if he had to completely overturn existing government policy and structure to do so.  But was there a greater truth that “Yes, Prime Minister,” could have taught me before now, if only I had been willing to listen?

In “The Grand Design,” the first episode of this sequel series, Jim Hacker walks into his living room in Number 10 at lunchtime, only to find that his wife is leaving to do her charity work.  With whom is he to dine?  He cannot eat in the Cabinet Mess: that is reserved for Civil Servants.  Nor can he eat with those in his party without an official reason, as this would both suggest and invite favoritism.  Lunching with journalists or representatives of other governments would pose similar dangers.  But having to dine alone is not the only limitation imposed on him.

Before his wife Annie leaves for her meeting, she complains about having to live in this “goldfish bowl.”  Every time she steps outside, she must face gawking tourists and journalists eager to question her.  She has been forced to keep the windows closed all morning, or music from the rehearsing Horse Guard (in their adjacent parade grounds) would have deafened her.  While she is complaining to him of how she feels like a prisoner in this house she is “forced to live in,” guards enter the room to perform a security check, and a functionary brings in government correspondence for him to read.  

What must it be like, to have to live under such stringent constraints?  While we all wish for additional money and power, do we think about the liberties and the anonymity that we would consequently lose?  When I achieve my goal of becoming a successful novelist, will I still be able to enjoy a quiet and peaceful evening walk through St. James Park?  I’m sure that Jim Hacker (or David Cameron, for that matter) would not regret his decision to be Prime Minister any more than I see more money and importance (even at the cost of my anonymity) as a justification to stop pursuing my personal goal, but still….

Suddenly, I find myself less bothered by the high prices that stop me from such activities as touring Westminster Abbey or riding the London Eye.  My hotel room doesn’t seem so small.  I am just another person visiting this famous, if expensive city.  Hence, at least for this trip, I do not have to eat “The Sausage that brings Isolation.”

Not another gawking tourist!

“The Grand Design” is included in “Yes, Prime Minister.”  The series is available on DVD from the BBC.