As you can see from recent photographs, my mum Betty (alias Supergran), is, as always, very much concerned with saving the world; she’d do anything to help if she can. In fact Supergran is in her element saving runaway trains and acting as “auto-pilot” for planes with defects that might otherwise make it impossible for them to reach their runways. She is a “hands on” (albeit gloved) super heroine and will tackle any trouble… almost. Unfortunately, Supergran has her one weak point – her Kryptonite – in that she fears high technology, and rightly so, as we are all discovering.

The latest news about cyber attacks and ransom demands on the NHS and other institutions in Britain, and around the world, has been worrying Supergran greatly. At ninety-four our heroine is still ultra savvy and a force to be reckoned with but, occasionally, the wrong words come out (yes, it happens to us all). Yesterday, whilst we were in the car on our shopping trip (Mum may be able to fly under her own steam but she doesn’t drive – all part of the mild mannered great-grandmother act) – she was frequently deep in thought and highly worried about the NHS being held to ransom. Mum kept coming back to the subject.

“What do you think?” Supergran asked. “Will the government pay the random?”