The Daily Hate Mail

Sunday was supposed to be a day of commemorating the achievements of women in the world and recognising their push for equality.

This was supposed to be an occasion at which women could feel positive about themselves and not be perceived as second class in a world with so many divides.

Sadly there was one publication that seemed far less than happy about this – The Daily Mail.

Instead of taking its chance to acknowledge the strength, determination and character held by many women who continue to push through the boundaries put in front of them simply because of their gender, it chose to focus on something else.

Something that did the complete opposite, sinking to the lowest possible place it could.

It chose to criticise the crossed toes of Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister’s wife.

Not her political standing or a comment made about the upcoming election, her toes.

The article didn’t even include a quote from Mrs Brown.

She was attending the Celebrating Women: Past, Present and Future event, held at a Hindu temple in north-west London, and as a result was required to remove her shoes before entering the temple.

Revealing the offending foot prompted an unnamed “Daily Mail Reporter” to launch into a wholly unnecessary and rather callous attack.

I suspect the paper chose not to name the reporter for fears of a reprisal similar to that received by another of its writers, Jan Moir, after her disgusting column shortly after the death of former Boyzone singer Stephen Gately.

Unfortunately Mrs Brown does not have the popular standing of a former teen pop-idol, but to publish an article like that with no purpose other than to discredit the standing of the Prime Minister’s wife, and directly compare her to David Cameron’s spouse, is nothing short of despicable and cowardly.

This is one occasion where a by-line would be very much appreciated indeed.

The event was the culmination of a month-long nationwide initiative, which began on International Women's Day on March 8.

Sadly, it seems that despite the huge strides forward for women’s equality in many of life’s differences, there are still some circumstances that they are anything but equal.