It’s one of those things that’s never occurred to me before, but the onset of dementia in my mother-in-law prompted the thought.  What happens to old spies?

I can’t see any reason why those previously engaged in the Security Services should be immune from its clutches.  And how great a risk is it to a nation to have thousands of spies, each privy to secrets of varying national importance, stumbling around and unwittingly dribbling from their mouths snippets of information valuable to a foreign foe?

Surely, if the thought has occurred to me the Security Services will have recognised the risk (and, conversely, the opportunity to cash in on foreign agents)?

Is there, for instance, a covert care/nursing home for those at risk or are they quietly guided into their box along with their secrets?