Abseiling in skirts? I think not

A PROFESSOR Higgins wondered why a woman couldn’t be more like a man, but a far more urgent question is: why can’t girls be more like boys? Girls have demanded full kneelength skirts as part of the new Girl Guides uniform, on the grounds that they didn’t want to look ‘boyish’.

This is a backwards step, and calls to mind the contrasting images of women in Afghanistan in the 1950s (mini-skirted, bejeaned, in the workplace) and today (full veil, with only a mesh panel for eyes, segregated).

Yes, I know leggings and shorts are also on offer but the last garment anyone should wear for abseiling or rock climbing is a pleated, nylon, lurid turquoise skirt. Rapid rethink all round please.