OPINION - Oh, please! Spare us the G7 wives performance

Terrible time for women, don’t you think? Just when we thought all our hard won equality was safe, all of a sudden we’re reminded of the fundamental discrepancies between the condition of men and women. Yes, I am talking about the G7 summit in Bavaria and the appalling spectacle of the leaders’ wives and girlfriends on display.

What is it about international summits which make leaders think it necessary to bring their spouses? And then, mortifyingly, to put them on display in a parallel show of unity to their husbands’. So the man hugs of Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson were echoed in the mwah moment of Brigitte and Carrie.

There were painful photocalls of the spouses of France, Britain, Germany and the EU posing on a girls’ hike together with Nordic walking sticks, as we nitpicked their choice of T-shirts.

Then there was the girly get-together over a glass of wine in a Bavarian hunting lodge (excellent stag’s head over the door) where again they were all smiles, trying to nail that very difficult look — the chic casual. Did your toes curl?

In Rwanda, the Johnsons brought their daughter, Romy, pictured with Carrie looking at an environmentally rich meadow with a six-month-old. Same in Cornwall during the G7 summit last year, when Carrie was bonding with Jill Biden alongside little Wilf.

Just stop. Note the interesting picture of the actual leaders of the G7 in a line up — not the one where they’re doing a kind of weird collective man embrace — with just one woman there, Ursula von der Leyen from the European Commission. It says it all, really. And note: Ursula didn’t bring along her husband.

It’s all reminiscent of the Wags scenario whenever England played in the Nineties. The men did the business; the girls provided the human interest.

But normal married couples don’t feel the need to follow each other on trips abroad (though in the case of Boris, I see Carrie’s problem). Most women rejoice when their spouses are away: time to do your own thing ... hurrah!

It’s time, I think, to channel quite another look. I’m thinking Denis Thatcher, who never pretended to bond with other leaders’ spouses when he accompanied Maggie. Better still, leave the wives at home. For women’s sake.