《No, Minister.(存一下英文版)》用其他笔名

15、【Interlude】S01E02.5 Cyril's Diary and Memos (1980.1.28-31)

　　January 31st, 1980, Thursday | London, Whitehall | Cold and overcast
　　The Minister's office was unusually quiet this morning.
　　He sat behind his desk, newspapers from various outlets spread before him, from The Sun's sensational "Oh My Cod!" to The Times's calm and restrained "Fisheries Tensions Boil Over." He read each one without comment, silently pushing them aside. Then he took two memoranda from his In-tray and signed his name.
　　Sir summoned me to his office to ask for the details of the Cornwall trip. I submitted my trip report, describing all events as objectively as possible, including Mr. Lambert's words backstage.
　　Sir listened, offering no comments. He simply picked up my meeting notes and pointed to several specific issues raised by the fishermen—"industrial pollution in the River Fal," "patrol frequency of the Royal Navy's Fishery Protection Squadron," "the application process for fuel subsidies for independent fishermen."
　　"Cyril," he said, "draft three memoranda. Address them to the Department of the Environment, the Ministry of Defence, and the Treasury, respectively. The subject: 'Preliminary Local Feedback and Subsequent Inter-Departmental Information Request from the Department of Synergy Coordination Regarding Fisheries Sustainability in Cornwall.' Cite the Minister's promises from the seminar and request that they provide relevant policy documents, data reports, and current procedural guidelines on these three specific issues."
　　I was stunned.
　　"Sir... now?" I hesitated. "Given the current... media reaction, if we proactively contact these departments now, won't we be seen as..."
　　"As fulfilling our duties, Cyril," he corrected me, his grey-green eyes meeting mine. "The media is interested in drama. Whitehall is interested in procedure. The Minister made promises in Cornwall. Our job now is to translate those promises into formal, traceable official correspondence. This demonstrates that we have not ceased our work because of an 'incident'. This, is the most powerful response to yesterday's chaos."
　　I understood. Beyond the clamour of the media, the gears of the bureaucratic machine must continue to turn as normal. Sir was, in his impeccably correct way, turning the Minister's seemingly impromptu promises into small wedges, to be driven into the operational systems of other departments.
　　I spent the entire day drafting those three memoranda. The wording had to be extremely careful, conveying the Minister's "concern" without sounding like a "directive" or an "investigation."
　　In the evening, the Minister finally spoke the first words unrelated to work in his office all day. Looking out at the Whitehall twilight, he asked me quietly, "Cyril, do you think... we actually opened any doors yesterday?"
　　Looking at the memoranda in my hand, about to be dispatched, I answered with absolute certainty, "Yes, Minister. I think we did."