Yes Minister was a gold-mine of quotes; and many of them are especially relevant now. Allegedly, Margaret Thatcher liked the programme so much, she wanted to appear in it.
(On a paper headed "Open Government") "Always dispose of the difficult bit in the title. It does less harm there than in the text."
"The public do not have a right to know, they have a right to be ignorant. Knowledge only means complicity in guilt: ignorance has a certain dignity." Boris has certainly taken note.
"The Prime Minster giveth, and the Prime Minister... taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Prime Minister."
"In politics, you've got to learn to say things with tact and finesse, you berk! And when to say nothing at all."
"It's the law of inverse relevance: the less you intend to do about something, the more you have to keep talking about it."
"If I knew how to defeat the civil service, I wouldn't be in opposition."
Nigel Hawthorne (in "The Knowledge") on cabbies keeping a clean record:
"If your hobby is mugging old ladies, or driving a vehicle with a gallon of Martinis inside you and a cherry on your head, go into politics, not cab driving. Because one conviction EVER.... and you're back in the bus queue."