Claire Rayner, 1931-2010

Britain’s most popular advice columnist, or, as they have it, agony aunt, has died: “After retiring as a columnist, Claire Rayner devoted herself to, as she put it, ‘biting the arses of those in power’, in particular lambasting government for its failure to ensure proper care for the elderly. Among her most recent targets were the Pope (‘His views are so disgusting, so repellent and so hugely damaging to the rest of us, that the only thing to do is to get rid of him.’) and the Prime Minister (‘Tell David Cameron that if he screws up my beloved NHS I’ll come back and bloody haunt him.’)”