It was a huge honour to have been appointed to this high profile expert panel to work with the most senior UK academics and the country’s top civil servants.

After Day 1 of important confidential debate, the chair released us for the evening with strict instructions to return on time in the morning. Anyone who dared to arrive late would be expelled.

I spent the evening at my cousins’ farm in Somerset, happy to take a break after the serious business of the day. The next morning, it felt like therapy to sit on the floor and play with my tiniest relatives.

Then I noticed the time. If I didn’t move quickly, I’d be late for Day 2 of panel work. I raced out of the house and tried the flag down the bus that was just pulling away from the stop.

The mean driver refused to wait for me. In that moment I knew that I was doomed to carry forever the shame of being expelled from the most prestigious role of my career.