Obituary: Sir Kelvin Spencer

MAY I reinforce a point Tony Benn made in his eloquent appreciation of Sir Kelvin Spencer (19 March)? writes George Guillemard. He recalls the 'scandalous' charge of senility made against Spencer when he campaigned against the nuclear power policy after his retirement from the Ministry of Power.

I knew him in his old age, and have never known anyone less senile. Once when my wife and I were going to visit him a few years ago, when he was well into his nineties, a friend warned us, 'If you are going to see Kelvin Spencer, you had better sharpen your wits.' We found that to be almost discomfortingly true.