Alastair Stewart: I bid farewell to a dear friend this week. He was always kind and supportive

She said that despite his illness, they had continued to live a full and active life.

They owned and managed a successful logistics business near Salisbury. Both were great supporters of the Royal British Legion. They provided transport for the bikes and equipment needed for the Legion’s Pedal to Paris fundraiser, and they regularly attended the Legion’s Christmas Carols event at the Guildhall, which I hosted.

John also wrote and produced The Angel & The Fallen, a music, poetry and prose piece about those who fell in the First World War.

I hosted and presented it for him in Salisbury Cathedral, where it raised £10,000 for the Legion. His MBE was awarded in recognition of his work for the charity.

Apart from all that, he and Tiggy were always great fun. We had often discussed both his ailments and mine, and they were always kind and supportive.

For the Legion’s 100th anniversary, John was the go-to man. He wrote: “I was asked if it would be possible to organise a concert at every cathedral in the country to mark the celebrations. By the end of the project, we had managed to achieve 40 throughout England and Wales, including cathedrals on the Isle of Man, the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar.” Truly amazing.

On the political front, the Mandelson papers were released. Other than Peter’s own personal texts and WhatsApp messages, some papers were also withheld at the request of the police, who are still investigating possible misconduct in public office.

What did emerge was intriguing. It confirmed that Peter was an incurable dabbler, had a low opinion of Starmer, the Cabinet and Labour in office, and possessed an uncontrollable tendency to tell ministers what they should do and what was right or wrong.

The Welfare Secretary responded to one such intervention by saying that when he met backbench Labour MPs, all they wanted to know was who else they could tax in order to give out even more in benefits.

This prompted Tory leader Kemi Badenoch to repeat her charge at PMQs that Starmer wasn’t the problem - the Labour Party was.

She said Starmer had given up on welfare reform because Labour MPs had given up on him.

I was glued to GB News as the papers were released. Christopher Hope did a brilliant job and, when I wrote congratulating him, he replied that he was honoured to receive my compliment. He pointed out that a team had been rapidly reading the papers and feeding him information throughout the day. A great job all round.

The murder of Henry Nowak and the subsequent conviction of Vickrum Digwa rocked the country. Digwa told police officers attending the scene that Henry had racially abused him. The court and judge subsequently dismissed that claim as a lie.

However, police at the scene believed Digwa but did not believe Henry, who told them he had been stabbed and could not breathe. He died in handcuffs and under arrest.

This prompted many to argue that there was a two-tier policing system favouring ethnic minorities. It has all been very ugly, and the police have a long and difficult road ahead if they are to restore faith and trust.

The official investigation may yet unearth some deeply embarrassing policy briefings. We shall see.

Elsewhere, on TV, I have been gripped by the eight-part BBC series Natalie Cassidy: Caring Together. The series focuses on her career pivot, inspired by her experience supporting her own father through end-of-life care at home. The episode dealing with learning about dementia was quite brilliant, informed not least by her friendship with the late Barbara Windsor and her widower, Scott Mitchell.

As one lecturer observed: “If you meet someone with dementia, you’ve met one person with dementia.” Every case is different and unique — something we should all bear in mind.

Please write at least 4 paragraphs