A transgender Bond? It’s a mission too far

Actor Dominic West, in a barely concealed bid no doubt to ingratiate himself with the new equality mafia in Hollywood, has suggested that the next James Bond should be transgender.

i have no problem whatsoever with the notion of a transgender spy (or indeed Bond girl — caroline cossey, pictured, born male, memorably appeared in For Your eyes only in 1981).

But what i don’t understand is why there’s so much fuss over James Bond. 007 is the literary creation of one man, ian Fleming. His personality is that of an unreconstructed post-war male, a womanising, show- off daredevil with more than a streak of chauvinism about him.

Yes, he’s a relic of a bygone age, but so are countless muchloved literary characters. You can’t suddenly reinvent them all for these post-Pc times.

What next, Lady Macbeth re- cast as a # Me Too campaigner, or Heathcliff as a stayat-home dad?

By all means let’s create new icons that better reflect our times. But can we please leave the classics alone, and enjoy them for what they are, rather than what we think they ought to be?