8 MARCH 2008, Page 26

Powell unhinged

Sir: Robert Shepherd’s analysis of the reasons behind Enoch Powell’s notorious immigration speech (‘The real tributaries of Enoch’s “rivers of blood”’, 1 March) is fascinating. But there are other more concise explanations. My aunt, Dame Enid Russell-Smith, worked closely with Powell when she was deputy secretary to the Ministry of Health and he was health minister, and she admired him greatly. When, after the 1968 speech, I asked her why this wonderful man seemed to have descended into abusive racism, she had a simple answer. ‘He’s gone mad,’ she told me. ‘People do, you know.’

Colin Bostock-Smith

St Leonards on Sea