Lord Michael Heseltine, 84, the senior politician and businessman, reflects on what he owes his dyslexia, his fears over Brexit and why he has no plans to retire

At my age there is no such thing as a good winter. There is a wonderful day in mid-March when you feel the sun on your back for the first time, and it straightens you.

I was no good at games and the only time I came top of the form was when my parents offered to buy me a new bike if I did so. I found an outlet for my energy by going to the local post office, buying as much lemonade as I could carry, and selling to the hearties by the glass what I’d bought by the bottle.

There have been two moments in my life when I have witnessed real history. First, my parents happened to have booked us into a hotel on Piccadilly Circus on VJ night. And then, by chance, I was in Berlin the day the Russians closed the Wall. I think we are at one of those moments again. I think [signing Article 50] is the worst decision we’ve made since the war.

I am appalled by people who pretend to regret the decline in standards of public life and only exacerbate them. The bigotry of the editor of the Daily Mail, coupled with that of Nigel Farage, have been among the most potent driving forces of this tragedy.

People were looking for a scapegoat and Europe was the convenient candidate

The garden has been my therapy. No matter what has happened in my political life I can be potting out some seedlings and it is all forgotten. I think you can link my work in creating the garden to the work I did in urban deprivation. Both are about changing perspective, introducing new visuals, getting rid of mess.

Good news occasionally comes around the corner for everybody. It is up to you to be prepared for it and grab it.

I am worried when people want to use me as a role model for dyslexia. My problem is that I see it mostly as a help. It taught me to short circuit procedures which were time consuming.

I was ambitious. But you aren’t interested in power for its own sake, only for what it will allow you to do. Power allows you to contribute.

I had only been in parliament a year when I voted twice against my party on race issues. The feeling that Enoch Powell’s speech evoked was far more divisive than anything in Britain since.

I think you can link our work in creating the garden to the work I did in urban deprivation. Both are about changing perspective, introducing new visuals, getting rid of mess.

Wales is still where my heart beats fastest, the land of my fathers. I am very proud to be patron of the Morriston Orpheus choir.

Life has pretty much gone to plan. Looking back, I don’t think I could have asked for any more.

I was devoted to my father, but I don’t think his premature death changed me. I had already been president of the Oxford Union, and started my own business. The die was cast.

Referenda seldom reflect the issue under discussion. This one was no exception. People didn’t like eight years of frozen living standards and they were anxious about immigration. They were looking for a scapegoat and Europe was the convenient candidate.

You have only one choice when things aren’t going well: find a way to pay the bills.

Retirement doesn’t feature on my agenda, because I have never regarded the things I do as work. I have no sense of mortality. I recognise my limitations, but I believe the best of times are yet to come.