WE’VE come a long way as a society in recent years and the media has been part of that progress in the way issues such as equal rights, sexuality, mental health, and child protection are covered.

That’s not to say there isn’t room for further improvement – The Sun hasn’t been able to come to terms with removing naked women from Page 3, for example – but the bigger picture is better than it was.

It’s remarkable to think that it’s little more than 20 years since the editor of the Hartlepool Mail was put under pressure (and refused) to “out” MP Peter Mandelson as homosexual. Thankfully, those days are gone.

So, given that this is 2017 and it’s nearly 40 years since Britain elected its first female prime minister in Margaret Thatcher, what on earth possessed the Daily Mail last week to publish one of the most inappropriate front pages I can remember?

Prime Minister Theresa May and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon were meeting in the midst of some of the most historic issues facing Britain – Brexit and calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence.

The focus, however, was on their legs. “Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!” It’s not even a very good pun and there should have been a question mark at the end. “It wasn’t quite stilettos at dawn but there was a distinctly frosty atmosphere when Theresa May met Nicola Sturgeon yesterday,” read the caption.

When I first saw it, I honestly thought it was a joke – someone pulling my leg – but it wasn’t.

Understandably, the front page inspired anger around the country but one female friend told me: “People shouldn’t react – that’s exactly what the Daily Mail wants.”

I disagree. Unless people voice their objections, these aberrations will be perceived to be acceptable. The sexuality of MPs would still be seen as fair game for the press.

The Northern Echo:

THE creators of the Have I Got News For You television programme couldn’t resist responding to the Daily Mail’s scandalous front page with a satirical follow-up.

Quite brilliant it was too.

I can’t help wondering if “Cleopatra – nice asp” might have been another Daily Mail headline from history.

COLUMNIST Harry Mead has written with distinction for this newspaper for somewhere around half a century.

“Surely, it’s about time you replaced me with some younger blood?” he once said to me when we were discussing his weekly column several years back during my time as editor.

But why would I have wanted to replace someone whose columns invariably struck a chord with readers: down to earth, packed with common sense, and written with passion for the North-East, its countryside and its people?

Harry has written thousands of columns over the years but last Wednesday’s must have been by far the hardest.

I can only begin to imagine how difficult it must have been to sit down at a computer keyboard and reflect on the death of his son Stephen.

Typically thoughtful, Harry found exactly the right words to convey the heartbreak of his family, and their appreciation of the kindness and sympathy shown by so many wellwishers.

I was so sorry to read about what had happened. Take care, Harry – and please keep writing.

I’VE known lots of Mayors in my time – many of them entirely admirable and one or two whose pomposity got the better of them once the chains of office were hung round their necks.

The current Mayor of Sedgefield, Chris Lines, below, is anything but pompous. While showing the role complete respect, he has removed the cloak of formality wherever possible.

On Saturday, he completed the Mayoral Marathon in Hardwick Park, in aid of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, The Lullaby Trust, and The Friends of Sedgefield Harriers. By the time his mayoral year has run its course, he’ll have raised more than £6,000 for those three charities.

It was a privilege to run a lap with him. That was all I could manage – I don’t think I’ll be running for Mayor any time soon.

FINALLY, The Northern Echo’s weekly sister paper, the Darlington & Stockton Times, is a proud, traditional publication that would never knowingly cook up a storm.

Thank goodness then that a misprint in its cookery column was averted by a sharp-eyed colleague at the last minute.

Instructions for making Creamy Garlic Roasted Red Pepper Pasta stated: “Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and place the chopped peppers on a foil-lined baking shit.”

Mercifully, the word “sheet” was inserted in the nick of time, just as a recipe for disaster was coming to the boil. What a cook-up that would have been...