I could go on and on but am not going to inflict any more of this on myself or anyone else. The non-existent editing and sloppy excuse for writing in this book are an embarrassment to the writer and an insult to the reader. Beyond Enkription is set in 1974 in the heart of the disco fevered 1970s, the Cold War and the escalating Irish Troubles in the purportedly united British Isles. We all know that encryption is a good thing. We've heard, over and over, that it's the last line of data defence in a breached system, it protects data from nosey employees, and it's required for many data-protection government regulations and industry standards.

Leo tried to becalm himself but his gut kept churning even though his life wasn't on the line. Only his career was but Burlington's life would be. One critical key management policy is regulating separation of duties. The key custodian should be a separate role and responsibility that is carried out outside your operations systems, away from your data management and database activities. Another best practice is defining different key classes. Ramsay welcomed me to her flat to talk about what it was like being part of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and her involvement in the New Labour, as well as to reminisce on her time as a student at Glasgow with some of the figures who would go on to become big names through those years. From her endearing and gentle nature, urging me to take a biscuit from the selection she’d laid out on platters, it would be hard to guess this woman was once believed to be in the running for chief of MI6. Although her meticulousness in making sure my cup of tea was made to my liking might be indicative of the type of character that led to such a successful career.

With the 20 year anniversary of the Iraq war falling in March this year, debates of whether or not Britain should have joined Bush in Iraq have naturally spiked again. “Recently, I can’t tell you how frustrated and angry I’ve been at the television coverage of the anniversary. People who don’t know what they’re talking about, they really don’t. They think it all started then. No, it came from a very bad set of circumstances in 1991. And of course, it’s now just become conventional wisdom, the Iraq war and how terrible it was. I don’t think most of the people who say it really understand what they’re talking about. It’s just something that gets parrotted.” But Ramsay’s 55th birthday arguably fell at the perfect time. It wasn’t to be a simple early retirement – her old friends from the Glasgow Uni days were gearing up to New Labour and working towards electoral success that would see them in power until 2010. Her old friend John Smith immediately asked her to join his team as a foreign policy advisor after winning the Labour leadership. After working in the leader’s office until Smith passed away in 1994, Tony Blair nominated Ramsay for the House of Lords, which she joined in 1996. She has held a number of roles in the House, including as a government whip, and acting as a junior minister for the Departments of Health, Scotland and the Foreign Office. Baroness Meta Ramsay reminisces on her time at the University of Glasgow and her friends from those days who went on to lead New Labour.

In real life Bill Fairclough was an intelligence agent or spook and was the author of Beyond Enkription, the first of six fact based autobiographical spy novels forming The Burlington Files series. The first sentence of the Goodreads blurb (above, and probably written by the author) should be a warning:Beyond Enkription is an intriguing unadulterated factual thriller and a great read as long as you don’t expect John le Carré’s delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots – after all, Bill Fairclough didn't go to Eton (or Sherborne) and was not an author by profession.

If you are into crime/espionage thrillers do read the fact based spy novel Beyond Enkription. It comes highly recommended by an American critic as “being up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”. It’s the first of six stand-alone autobiographical spy novels in The Burlington Files series based on the life and experiences of Bill Fairclough aka Edward Burlington (MI6 codename JJ as for Guy Fawkes) while working as an agent for MI6, the CIA et al for circa 50 years (see https://theburlingtonfiles.org) after attending St Peter’s School for his MI6 induction program! As one of the surviving original review panel I was asked to read it three times. Each time I thought I had understood it the last time!The first book in the series of The Burlington Files is to be published in the coming months.It is to be called Beyond Enkription and if you think we can't spell you may be mistaken! A punchy, pacy and well researched novel where reality and fiction are so intertwined they become indistinguishable.