Labour’s Emily Thornberry didn’t know French minister… but she must know it’s wrong to cry sexism
Sun Columnist says the Shadow Foreign Secretary should have just admitted she didn't know the answer rather than undermining genuine cases of sexism
WHEN repeatedly asked the same question by Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan, Labour’s Emily Thornberry replied: “Don’t start pub quizzing me . . . ”
So, what was the tricky inquiry that floored the Shadow Foreign Secretary?
What’s the capital of Comoros, perhaps? Or, which is the only national flag that isn’t quadrilateral in shape?*
Nope. She was asked the name of her opposite number in France.**
The man with whom our Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has now met several times regarding Brexit and, one presumes, would be on Ms Thornberry’s radar.
But instead of brushing off the question with a rueful smile and a “You’ve got me there — it’s been a long day”, reply, she went on the offensive and cried sexism.
Shame on her.
Tripping up politicians with what we refer to as the “How much is a pint of milk?” question is almost an Olympic sport among journalists.
It explains why this week it was also revealed by one of David Cameron’s former communications staff that he was given a regular “cheat sheet”, listing the price of 20 ciggies, a pint of lager, loaf of bread etc.
Whether it’s asking an education minister what is seven times eight, a London mayoral hopeful to name the next Tube station after Tottenham Court Road on the Central Line or, indeed, asking the Shadow Foreign Secretary to name the French foreign secretary, the gender of the respondent is totally irrelevant.
Distraction techniques (© Peter Mandelson) are often employed by MPs when they hear a question they either don’t know or don’t like the answer to — but the counter-attack usually comes in the predictable form of questioning the journalist’s own personal politics.
Valid or not, it’s all an accepted part of the age-old verbal fisticuffs between politicians and the press that neither side takes personally.
But deploying a sexism battlecry where none exists is a particularly low blow designed specifically to make the questioner back off for fear of trial by Twitter or disciplinary action.
Worse, it serves only to seriously undermine all the genuine cases of both overtly and insidious sexism against women that’s still at play in some, but by no means all, workplaces.
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Where they are routinely paid less than their male counterparts, regarded as “hard” or “pushy” if they express views that differentiate them from a doormat, expected to dress a certain way for fear of not looking “feminine” or described as “hysterical” or “hormonal” if they show their displeasure about something in a manner that would be deemed acceptable from a man.
But being asked a work-based question that you really should know the answer to isn’t sexist on any level and, being an intelligent woman, Ms Thornberry knew that but made the accusation anyway. Tut tut.
If, as expected, Diane James becomes the leader of Ukip in the next few days, she will be the eighth woman currently leading a political party.
As the Labour party has never been led by a woman, perhaps the Shadow Foreign Secretary should turn her attention to that.
* Moroni and the flag of Nepal.
** Jean-Marc Ayrault
Bake Off desserts ordinary viewers
THE Great British Bake Off is moving from the BBC to Channel 4.
Meaning it will lose even more of its on-screen stalwarts and be punctuated by adverts.
But worst of all, the planned first series of the Channel 4 version will be “celebrity-based”.
Sigh. The charm of Bake Off has always been its ordinariness, with normal contestants such as Tom Gillford.
If it’s set to become yet another vessel for the limited charms of low rent “slebs”, it will fall flatter than the Victoria sponge that gained me a level 3 in CSE cookery.
FIRST CLASS FURY
MO FARAH’S wife Tania reportedly let rip at an airline worker in the US who wouldn’t let the couple board ahead of other passengers, despite having a first- class ticket.
A witness says Tania, right with Mo, accused the woman of being “f***ing pathetic” and leading a “sad little life”.
Oh dear. No wonder her husband runs a mile for a living.
It ain't half hot? Er, hardly
QUITE apart from having to write this column in a darkened room, the extended heatwave strikes dread in the heart of Chez Moore.
For every time the sun gets its hat on, The Bloke dons those bloody shorts.
Baggy. Frayed. Baby poo brown in hue. And . . . cue Jaws music . . . three-quarter length, flapping listlessly around his mid-calves.
I have pleaded, tutted, ridiculed and even hidden them.
But nothing, it seems, can rid me of this sartorial plague.
A new survey has revealed that I am not alone, with more than half of women admitting they can’t stand their partner’s dress sense.
Jogging bottoms were the most hated item, followed by football shirts and slogan tees.
The aforementioned mid-calf shorts were at number seven.
Nearly half of those questioned admitted that they sneakily chuck out items that offend, but when I did that, he stomped off to the local charity shop and bought them back (no danger of anyone snapping them up in the meantime).
It appears, dear reader, that I must resign myself to co-habitation with a mid-life Don Estelle.
PAINFUL PUZZLING
RAHAM ANDREW, of Norfolk, spent 120 hours painstakingly building the world’s largest jigsaw only to discover that four pieces were missing.
All together now, aaaaargh!
As a jigsawer myself, I feel his pain.
The burning question is: Where do these elusive little blighters go?
Presumably they are all laughing at us somewhere, along with our missing socks.
Decent schools not just for elite
HAVING experienced both a state comprehensive and grammar school education (long story) I welcome the return of the latter, with a couple of caveats.
Firstly and most importantly, can we please stop perpetuating the myth that being academic is somehow superior to being creative or technical? It isn’t.
Consequently (and secondly) there should be equal focus on providing a similarly high standard of education tailored to those who might prefer coding, cookery or car maintenance as a career.
And fourthly (maths was never my strong point), as the tutoring industry is now worth £6billion a year, it’s inevitable that many will use it to get Jacasta a higher score in the grammar entry test than Jimmy who, though equally bright, doesn’t have parents who can afford it.
So a certain number of places should be reserved each year for teachers to nominate children who they know deserve to be there but doesn’t have parents who can afford help.
WELL AND TRULY IN THE DOGHOUSE
KEITH VAZ’S wife Maria says she has forgiven him for paying for sex with two male escorts.
Maria also said that they will have Relate counselling in a bid to move forward.
Cripes.
Still, I suppose it makes a more edgy opener than the usual, “He never puts the bins out . . .”
Jude in mood to apologise
ACTOR Jude Law, he of five children by three different mothers, says he feels remorse over the hurt he has caused to various women throughout his life.
“I regret hurting people. It’s an awful thing…” he says, before adding, “Confession is facing yourself and saying, ‘You did this and this is the consequence’.”
It’s been suggested that this navel-gazing has been prompted by his lead role in the forthcoming Sky Atlantic drama, The Young Pope.
Hmmmmm. More likely it’s because Jude is dating 30-year-old Phillipa Coan, who just happens to be a behavioural psychologist.