John Major's underpants, a very rude trade union advert... and an unlikely defender in former PM's ex lover Edwina Currie



Former Tory Minister Edwina Currie has defended a rail union banned from publishing an 'offensive' advertisement which uses her affair with John Major to mark the 20th anniversary of the then Prime Minister's decision to sell off Britain's railways.

The advert shows a cartoon of Mrs Currie and Sir John with the slogan: 'It wasn't just Edwina who John Major screwed. He also screwed our railway and millions of passengers.'

The Advertising Standards Authority is refusing to allow the TSSA rail union to publish the adverts this week to commemorate Sir John's rail sell-off in 1993, unless it removes the 'offensive' word 'screwed'.



Lovers: Edwina Currie was devastated when John Major said he was ashamed of their affair

Mrs Currie, who had an affair with Sir John before he became Prime Minister in 1990, said the adverts, which depict her with a pair of underpants on her head, were silly.

But she said she could not object to the word 'screwed' because she had used it herself as Health Minister to shock women into realising the risks of cervical cancer.

Mrs Currie said: 'They are making a perfectly reasonable point but this is not the way to do it. I once said about cervical cancer "Don't smoke and don't screw around" so I can't criticise this kind of language. But if they are offensive no one will take any notice.



'They are shooting themselves in the foot. They can go ahead because they will make fools of themselves, not me. The last thing people will be talking about is the railways.'

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: 'We are disappointed the ASA has vetoed the wording of our original ad but we are surprised and pleased with the lukewarm support of Edwina.

'We are still in talks with the ASA, who have said we can use the cartoon, and remain hopeful we can agree on a new form of words in the next 48 hours. We simply wanted it to highlight the consequences of John Major's disastrous decision to sell off our railways.'

Offensive? Edwina Currie has defended the wording of the TSSA union's advert

However, the ASA refused to see the funny side and told the union it would veto the advert unless the word 'screwed' is removed. Its rules say adverts 'must not unfairly portray or refer to anyone in an adverse or offensive way', unless with written permission.

Mrs Currie, 66, was forced to resign as Health Minister in Margaret Thatcher's Government in 1988 after she claimed most egg production in the UK was infected with salmonella.

In 2002, she revealed she had had a four-year affair in the Eighties with Sir John, then a junior Tory Minister, which ended when he became a Cabinet Minister.

Rail privatisation was the last substantial state asset sold off by the Tories between 1979 and 1997. Mrs Thatcher delayed it several times but Sir John argued it was the only way to improve efficiency.