Alastair Stewart: Pauline Quirke's shock dementia diagnosis has got me thinking about the first symptom

It was with heavy heart that we heard the news on Tuesday that the lovely and talented actress Pauline Quirke was retiring due to her dementia, which had been diagnosed in 2021. We, like millions of others, had been fans of Birds Of A Feather, which is perhaps her most successful work.

But it was by no means her only work in a successful career that has spanned half a century. Pauline, with her fellow Bird Of A Feather Linda Robson, also appeared in Phil Redmond’s ‘Going Out’ a clever drama well ahead of its time and which my wife Sally had been the production assistant on.

Whenever I saw either of them in and around the ITV studios on the South Bank when I worked on the London News Network, they were delightful and always asked about Sal. On one occasion, HM the Queen, then HRH the Duchess of Cornwall, came for an official tour, and all Three Birds Of A Feather were in the line-up.

They were introduced to Camila, as my old chum Eamonn Holmes was. I remember it all very clearly - and there was much laughter and genuine friendliness. Wonderful memories.

My brother-in-law John came over this week with his metal detector. He’d asked ages ago if he could trawl our fields for his new hobby. Of course, we agreed but up to now he’s been so busy running his business that he’s not been around. It was lovely to see him. We talked about the Budget which he said had helped a bit with allowances but not made employing people any easier. His son, my godson, is in hospitality with three pubs and employs fifty people. He is a Labour Party supporter and while he had said he welcomed the new Government, he had also said he was less than clear about what its purpose was, or where it was going. John returned from his search proud to have found an old padlock and over tea, he said perhaps he’d find the treasure chest next time!

I watched the inauguration of Donald Trump with great interest. I clicked between channels and GB News was the best with Martin and Michelle. The others had obviously made lots of notes, all of which they seemed to feel obliged to share with us. But it just meant they kept telling us what we knew and that Silicon Valley bosses were there in numbers. In the end, it became tedious. We both wondered if Melania had chosen that hat to avoid a full-on kiss with the Donald.

The former Labour Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon appeared on one of the channels to agree with Trump on the need for other NATO members to pull their weight on defence spending. I like Geoff and seeing him reminded me of the lovely letter I had received from Dr Michal Fopp, former CEO of the brilliant RAF Museum to which Geoff had appointed me a trustee… We enjoyed our time together promoting the wonderful collection of aircraft and memorabilia the museum has both at the north London and Cosford sites.

A high point in the news was the current Labour Defence Secretary John Healey confirming to the House of Commons that a Royal Navy submarine tracking a Russian spy ship had surfaced and warned it off. It's terrific stuff. I also enjoyed seeing Rachel Reeves, back from China and now doing Davos. I wondered who had asked her to ease up on the non-doms. I think we can guess! You don’t do much for growth frightening away wealth creators any more than you do taking away job creation… It’s a shame chilly pensioners don’t have the same clout…the only growth she seems to be achieving is in government borrowing and debt.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of watching and reporting on some of the giants of the Treasury including - Gordon Brown and Nigel Lawson, all of whom were in a different league.