Pandemic Diaries: The inside story of Britain’s battle against Covid

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Nevertheless, the 2002 publication of Currie’s book caused a sensation, resulting in a public statement of contrition from Major, in which he said he was “most ashamed”.

A day later, a “Test to Release” program was introduced that allowed isolating travellers to buy tests privately to shorten their quarantine period to five days. In total, the policy resulted in more than 20 million people - a third of the entire population - being told to self-isolate, regardless of whether they had symptoms. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s memoir, A Journey (2010), attempted a similar redemption arc. Niall Carson-Pool By the time the self-isolation requirement was removed on Feb 24 2022, 26.4 million people had been told to self-isolate in England. Now, WhatsApp messages reveal for the first time the conversations that were going on about the policy behind the scenes.Well I was not his biggest fan given I lost a lot of family whilst they partied. However I give this review honestly. So what to make of this strange attempt on the part of a disgraced politician, forced to quit in the wake of a scandal, to exonerate themselves? The history of the redemptive memoir This unique book, based on the author's contemporaneous records of those extraordinary months, candidly recounts firsthand the most important events and decisions as they unfolded throughout this unprecedented global emergency. It is self serving but would you expect less of a politician? He’s not afraid to be critical of pretty much everyone especially Cummings with only Van-Tam and Witty coming out of it with their credibility undamaged. Standing in my kitchen in Suffolk after a quiet New Year’s Eve, I scanned my newspaper for clues as to what might be lurking around the corner.’

These are not a great of the genre, but are worth a note for the inclusion of a bombshell: former Tory MP Currie’s admission of a four-year affair with John Major (the former prime minister who was then a government whip). In the present era of 24-hour news and incessant tweeted Westminster intrigue it’s rare for memoirs to drop something as big – although rumours had swirled for a long time, and you might say that Currie’s 1994 novel A Parliamentary Affair was a rather big hint. Switching to a five-day testing regime would have transformed the way the country was able to operate during the pandemic.Gyles Brandreth’s Breaking the Code offers a perspective on the Major years from an MP who wasn’t sleeping with him at the time. Former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown deconstructs the 90s over three volumes. Michael Gove once kept Tony Blair’s A Journey by his bedside. Nigel Lawson memorably said that “the NHS is the closest thing the English people have to a religion” in The View from No 11. And Harold Macmillan remains one of the best diarists to occupy No 10 (and more succinct than Gladstone). Mr Case replied in the early hours of Oct 25, explaining that it might not be “an issue” that this easing of the quarantine restrictions had been briefed to the papers, apparently by Downing Street.

Now, WhatsApp messages seen by The Telegraph show that a proposal to replace that with five days of testing had been discussed as early as November 2020 - but was not put in place. The first book on the subject by a major player at the centre of it all. As a diary it’s a stilted narrative that will probably be used in the future more as a reference work by historians than as a read in its own right.A month after Sir Chris gave his advice, isolation was reduced to 10 days - a length which continued to wreak havoc on businesses and services. There’s also a strong emotional and personal component. Campbell writes honestly about his struggles with addiction and depression, and the strain Westminster put on his family life. There’s even an early impression of Keir Starmer during a 2015 dinner: “Maybe a bit too lawyerly, not instinct-driven, but smart and sorted.”

Edwina Currie with John Major at the launch of the Conservative European manifesto in 1994. Photograph: PA He suggested that the story distracted from a “hatchet job” that Sir Bernard Jenkin had done on “Dido and team” - referring to Baroness Harding - after the Tory MP wrote in The Telegraph about a “vacuum of leadership” at the heart of the testing programme. Ms Dean’s concern that there might be a “comms risk” associated with the policy to release only wealthy business travellers from self-isolation proved to be correct.Putting any personal political opinions aside I think anyone would find this interesting (even if a few sections might leave you shouting at your phone in anger when he criticises a person/party/workforce/union... that you like). So, in the spirit of goodwill, here are a few alternative UK political diaries that are more worthy of your time. He added that he wanted forgiveness from the public for breaking the rules, rather than seeking it over his handling of the pandemic. They detail her unceremonious booting from the cabinet by Callaghan, her love for Michael Foot, and her contradictory feelings on the notorious (and abandoned) In Place of Strife white paper, which left her adrift from her leftwing comrades. They also expose a more vulnerable side to the woman known as the Red Queen – a vulnerability not often apparent given her determination and rather obstinate reputation.