As a Yorkshireman, and proud of it, I'm not afraid to speak my mind. And I can tell you that when Labour was re-elected in 2001, the cynic in me wondered whether we weren't seeing the death of British politics. The reason for this was Alastair Campbell and the detestable culture of spin.

It has often been said that it was I who was largely responsible for creating this atmosphere when I served as Margaret Thatcher's press officer. To which I have just two words in reply. Bunkum and balderdash. I have never, ever sought the limelight, and as the ministers whom I am proud to have served will tell you, my only goal throughout my long and distinguished career has been the dissemination of the truth. And if I did ever seek publicity, I did so out of duty. By Jove, yes.

I was just a humble member of the Government Information Service when Margaret did me the honour of asking me to become her press secretary. Some have accused me of having got so close to her that I joined the Conservative party. To which I have just two words in reply. Bunkum and balderdash. It is true we did become enormously close over the many years we worked together, and I am proud to have provided her with some of her best soundbites, but at no time was I anything less than impartial or professional.

We always observed the formalities. "Bernard," she would say, "You are my rock." At which comment I would always click my heels and salute with a swift, "Danke, mein Führer."

If I was a little evasive in my early days in office - sorry, as the prime minister's press secretary - it was not because I was trying to conceal the truth, but because I wasn't being told anything. All I ever worked for was to make journalists' lives easier. When the hordes outside Downing Street became a scrum, I herded them all into a little pen to make them feel more secure. And I worried that the smaller ones at the back wouldn't be able to hear Margaret properly, so I got her a lectern and a microphone so she could hector audibly.

I also rebut any suggestions that I ever leaked anything, especially over Westland.

Great, great commentators such as Robin Oakley have said I was the greatest civil servant ever to walk through the doors of No 10. Only a man of my stature could have been press secretary and head of the GIS at the same time without compromising his independence.

Since 1997 it has been all downhill with special advisers and spin. I despair. And to those hacks on the Mirror and the Independent who ever dared criticise me, I say: "Show your faces in Hebden Bridge and I'll bloody well have yer."

The digested read ... digested

The pot calls the kettle black