Pauline Prescott: Why I still haven't forgiven John

PAULINE Prescott has still not forgiven her husband John for cheating on her.

In a new autobiography, she reveals in graphic detail the moment the former Deputy Prime Minister and Hull East MP told her of a two-year fling with his secretary, Tracey Temple.

Mrs Prescott said: "People ask if I have forgiven him and the answer is that I haven't, because to forgive is to condone."

But she added: "Rightly or wrongly I decided John deserved a second chance."

Labour Party stalwart Mr Prescott revealed his two-year fling with his diary secretary, who was 24 years his junior, in 2006.

At the time, newspapers famously published a picture of the Cabinet member lifting Ms Temple off her feet and into his arms.

Now, Mrs Prescott has written about the affair for the first time.

Her autobiography, Smile though your Heart is Breaking – extracts of which appeared in yesterday's Mail on Sunday – revealed how the MP arrived home late at night, on April 27, 2006, to break the news.

Mrs Prescott wrote: "He looked terrible, his skin was grey.

"He sat down on the edge of the bed as if his legs would no longer support him.

"'I've had an affair', he said".

Mr Prescott admitted the affair with his diary secretary, in London's Admiralty House office, had lasted two years, but that she had broken it off "a while ago".

He told his wife it wasn't love.

See today's Mail for more details on Mrs Prescott's new book, including how Mr Prescott proposed to her in a train toilet.