Bill Jamieson: Nothing funny about wrong trousers

The shoes worn by MSP Angela Constance as she arrived for a debate on the future of Scotland at Holyrood on September 23, 2014 in Edinburgh. Picture Chris Watt/Getty Images

Over-reaction turns a fashion debate into a Downing Street spat as tempers flare and caustic comments are exchanged, says Bill Jamieson

Six months into the impenetrable trek that is the Brexit Maze and events at Westminster have taken a sinister turn. Social media has erupted, deep offence caused, angry words exchanged and daggers have flashed.

I refer to The Amazing Case of the “Wrong” Trousers.

Its relevance to great affairs of state? You may well ask. But for the past week or more Downing Street has been abuzz with the “Trousergate” controversy. This was sparked by a photograph in Vogue magazine of Prime Minister Theresa May relaxing in a pair of dark brown flared leather trousers, price £995.

The red hot issue of the leather trousers, or how and where women wear them, or why they wear them, or what they cost or what they look like or the comments they have drawn from former Cabinet ministers have been the explosive questions that have preoccupied Westminster and its commentariat for the past week.

Now the issue of What Political Women Wear need not always be so toxic. Our own First Minister Nicola Sturgeon chooses her couture wisely and well. Her bold coloured outfits come from Edinburgh clothing boutique Totty Rocks, favoured by, amongst others, Kate Moss and Lorraine Kelly.

And when SNP minister Angela Constance sparked a frenzy of photo-snapping a few years back, it was when she stepped out wearing a pair of £125 “Bambi Deer” high heels from British shoe company Irregular Choice. The quirky footwear which set Holyrood abuzz (“Ace shoes, hen” was one comment) has acquired a cult following. Ms Constance subsequently donated her shoes to charity.

But into the Westminster firestorm, I enter with knees a-tremble. Little wonder, in this age of acute gender sensitivity, most males have turned a politically correct blind eye or otherwise backed off.

But it’s “not just about the bloody trousers” as one Downing Street aide was quoted as saying last week. In just a few days The Amazing Case of the “Wrong” Trousers has sprung (my apologies) many legs.