The spectre of Black Wednesday has returned to haunt the Conservatives.

Under the new freedom of information laws, the Treasury has published a previously secret archive of documents on the events of that day in 1992 which saw Britain ejected from the exchange rate mechanism.

Touring the television studios last night, John Major revealed that he had written a letter of resignation to the Queen after the events, but was talked out of quitting by Cabinet colleagues.

The former prime minister also tells the Guardian that the release of the papers is a welcome development.

"People for the first time will see what the policy options were, what the difficulties were and what the long-term benefit has been," he says.

The documents reveal that Treasury officials consistently complained that political considerations got in the way of economic judgments.

The cost to the taxpayer was put at £3.3 billion, even though the Bank of England used £25 billion of its reserves to try to keep the pound at a level that would prevent it being forced out of the ERM.

The papers also show that, in the years before joining the ERM, Baroness Thatcher was in open disagreement with Nigel Lawson, John Major’s predecessor as chancellor.

"The open warfare between chancellor and prime minister made it especially difficult for the markets to decide what the effective objectives of the government were," the papers said.

The government, however, has been criticised for the selective release of information which paints the Tories in a bad light.

John Major questioned the way in which the Freedom of Information Act is working, saying: "There is something wrong with the way this act is operating, when it is possible for people to disinter at will episodes which they think will embarrass the present Conservative Party by looking backwards."

Lord Falconer tells today's Telegraph that he will offer former ministers the right of appeal against the publication of documents about them.

The move comes as a senior minister said the FoI legislation was making good government "impossible".