Boris Johnson was so furious that he borrowed from Shakespeare to give his feelings full expression. "It was the most appalling lot of sexist, misogynist tripe," he declared. "If we ever find the person responsible, I don't know what we'll do with them - but it will be the terrors of the earthIn King Lear, Lear uses the phrase to threaten awful revenge on his daughters Goneril and Regan.. It's totally intolerable." 

Johnson was referring to an article in the Mail on Sunday. It reported a claim by an unnamed Tory MP that Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, was using an underhand tactic against Johnson in parliamentary debate. The tactic? Crossing and uncrossing her legs to distract him.

The MP allegedly compared it to a scene in the film Basic Instinct, where a suspected murderess does the same thing to distract the detective questioning her. They suggested that Rayner had behaved in this way to compensate for her poor educationRayner went to a comprehensive school, whereas Johnson was privately educated.. "She knows she can't compete with Boris's Oxford UnionA debating society at Oxford University, many of whose members have become politicians. debating training, but she has other skills which he lacks."

The Independent Press Standards Organisation received over 5,000 complaints about the article. And the speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay HoyleA Labour MP until he became speaker in 2019., has summoned the Mail on Sunday's editor to account for it.

To some, the outrageous suggestion that a female MP might behave in such a way is evidence of a deeply sexist culture at Westminster. Others believe that the Mail on Sunday was deliberately trying to discreditShow that something or someone is untrustworthy or unbelievable.  Rayner, and printed the slur in the hope that it would stick.

Female MPs from all parties have expressed anger but not surprise. "Obviously it exists everywhere in the country," wrote Jess PhillipsA Labour MP for a Birmingham constituency who has been subjected to extensive abuse online. in the Independent, "but it must be said that the level of woman-loathing I have come across in politics is unrivalled by any place I have ever worked or lived".

"There are few jobs where what you wear or what kind of body you have are commented on throughout your working day, as if this were completely normal - and that is before the hatred, death and rape threats have even started."

Allegations made to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) seem to bear this out. Set up in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it is designed to make it easier for parliamentary staff to report sexual harassment.

It has just been revealed that 56 MPs are being investigated, some for sexist comments and some for more serious offences. They include three cabinet ministers and two shadow cabinet ministers.

According to a UN special rapporteurA French word meaning someone appointed to compile a report for an organisation., Irene Khan, "Sexism and misogyny... have been heightened by the rise of populist, authoritarian and fundamentalist forces around the world... Women's voices are suppressed, controlled or punished explicitly by laws, policies and discriminatory practices."

She added that female politicians and defenders of women's rights are being targeted by vicious campaigns to drive them out of public life. "If women are to recover lost ground... then women's equal right to freedom of opinion and expression must be front and centre on national and international agendas."

Yes: In a TV interview Angela Rayner said that the public outcry has led her to believe that the incident could be a tipping point. The world can now be shown that not even MPs can get away with sexism.

No: It is too deeply ingrained in too many cultures. If it persists in a relatively liberal country like the UK, there is no hope in countries where women are treated by law as second-class citizens.

Or... Although sexism is a common problem, misogyny is not, and it is important not to confuse the two. Very few men actually hate women, though there are plenty who fail to treat them with the respect they deserve.