The BBC has just announced its pledge for an enforced 50/50 gender split of expert contributors on its news and current affairs programmes. What patronising nonsense. If I thought The MJ only wanted me as a columnist because of my sex, I'd be outraged. While some feminists seem delighted by this tick-box paternalism, others are furious at the damage such tokenism can do for real equality.

Imagine grafting long and hard to establish yourself as a top economist, social scientist or statistician, only to have your credibility and credentials undermined by the suspicion that you have only been asked to comment because of your biology, rather than your brainpower.