Virginia Blackburn

HERE we go again. People who lived in a different age committed crimes that seem inexplicable to us now and so we issue retrospective pardons despite the fact that it changes absolutely nothing and everyone involved is long dead. It happened to the admittedly abominably treated Alan Turing and now it’s the turn of the suffragettes: on the 100th anniversary of (some) women getting the vote there are calls for their convictions to be overturned. No one is reporting this more vociferously than the BBC, where as we all know women are so prized and held in high regard. (My little joke.)

Jeremy Corbyn has said that Labour would apologise to the women involved and issue pardons: of course he would although at least this particular meaningless gesture would cost nothing, unlike the rest of his cunning plans. But not only is there no point in doing this, it actually undermines the bravery of the women involved.

The fact that they were prepared to break the law and take great personal risks is an indication of the strength of their convictions and the injustice they were fighting. To judge them on the mores of the 21st century is to underestimate what they were really up against.

Anyway, we don’t have that much to celebrate. Women may have the vote but more than 40 years after the Equal Pay Act we’re still routinely awarded less than men, especially in institutions such as the BBC (them again) which is making such a song and dance about #MeToo, sexism and all the rest.

If the BBC really wants to lead the way, then I strongly suggest it puts a few more 70-something females on ON the left is Nick Knowles, on the right is Marc Moor. They are linked by a woman called Jessica. She is the estranged wife of Nick and daughter of Marc. Daddy issues or what?