The plight of women in Labour

We’re told not to judge books by their covers, but faced with these two it’s hard not to. Harman’s is one of those thick, expensive tomes which, understandably, politicians write when they’ve had enough earache and, unbelievably, publishers keep buying for vast sums, despite the fact that a fortnight after publication you can pick them up cheaper than an adult colouring book in a remainder bin. The old saw that ‘all political careers end in failure’ might now better be: ‘All political careers end with a book on Amazon going for less than the price of the postage.’

In the run-up to lift-off, Harman sought to sex up her selling point by performing a sort of abbrieviated, civic-minded Dance of the Seven Veils, revealing a double-whammy of sexual indignities at the hands of powerful men, and demanding that the next Doctor Who be female. Sadly, the combination of the two things — not complaining about real assaults then, and being stroppy about an imaginary character now — make her look as bogus and bossy as far too many female Labour MPs already have a reputation for being.