They’re at it again – or still! Julia tap-dancing about between her support of a proven misogynist, and her abhorrence of derogatory remarks about females … and Tony with both feet in his mouth; and the other Tony, whom many of his voters have publicly declared a traitor … Even fellow independent, Richard Torbay, has criticised him for ‘tarnishing the independent brand’.

And then there’s Tania, who said, very piously, on radio, this morning, that the government doesn’t make judgements based on rumour. Oh, dear! Wash your mouth out!

True to my calling, I straight away think about the Suffragettes who laboured, suffered, and, in some instances, died for their cause. Someone like Emily Davison. What would she be saying if she had a living voice?

Possibly something like: “Why did we throw ourselves under horses, chain ourselves to palace gates, suffer imprisonment and vilification, starve ourselves to the point of death, when, a century later, a woman in the top position in the land (thanks to our efforts) has betrayed us, (and herself)?”

I say she hasn’t only betrayed women. Anyone with a feminine side (men, too), or the merest regard for female dignity, must be asking themselves this question.

Germaine Greer’s attack on the dress sense of the Prime Minister made me wince. I thought then, (and still do) that it was a distinctly unfeminist comment, a betrayal of all she represents to a generation of women. After all, the P.M. has far more important business to think about than a wrinkle across the back of her jacket. But maybe she knows more about her than we think. A sort of remark in kind, and not, as I had thought, a desire to be outrageous. (I don’t really find any excuse for it, but maybe there is. The jury’s still out.)

Sadly, until self-interest ceases to be the main driver of these, our leaders, we can expect more of these demeaning sessions in our parliament. When we find a public figure (man or woman) who puts the interests of the country before his/her own personal ambitions for power – that person will indeed be a Statesman.

Thank goodness, someone had the sense to pull the plug on the whole miry pool. How sad that it was not our P.M. who paved the way, but the man who should never have been elevated to the position of Speaker in the first place. The Suffragettes must be rolling in their graves!

I am sorry, Suffragettes, that even in the ‘enlightened’ world of the 21st Century, and after all you have done for us, you are still not able to rest in peace.