‘Pinching bums’ at work is no big deal says Jennie Bond

JENNIE BOND, the former BBC royal correspondent, has admitted to regularly “pinching the bum” of male bosses as she claimed office flirtations were good for morale.

Bond, 68, who joined the BBC in 1977, said the #Metoo movement was a far cry from the working environment she enjoyed.

“I quite like flirtation in an office. It adds a sense of fun. I’d walk by and pinch their bum or give them a slap. So what? I wasn’t saying, ‘I want to go to bed with you,’” she told the Daily Mail.

“I am of that generation, with Anne Robinson, when, if a man was inappropriate, it was absolutely routine, and you slapped them, told them to go away or just got on with your life.”

Robinson, the former Weakest Link presenter, said recently: “I never actually clouted a man if he tried to pat my bum because I never attached much importance to it. I just used to sigh and curtly say, ‘Look, I’m very busy, please don’t waste my time.’

“I certainly didn’t run crying to the loo. I just thought the quicker I got to the top, the sooner I wouldn’t have to put up with this nonsense.”

Their sentiments are shared by Jilly Cooper, who caused controversy last month when she said the #Metoo era means “you can’t flirt anymore”. She added: “We used to have much more fun!” Cooper said that Rupert Campbell-black, the hero of her books, would be “locked up” now for his womanising ways. She said: “I love being wolf-whistled. I know men shouldn’t jump on everybody… but I do think men have stronger libidos than women.”