Harmless flattery? Unforgivable sexism? The great wolf whistle debate rages on.

It centres on Poppy Smart, who got so fed up of the whistles and comments every time she passed a Worcester building site that she reported the matter to the police.

Many felt that the 23-year-old marketing co-ordinator had over-reacted. Shouldn’t women regard such unwanted attentions as a compliment? It was flattering, not soul shattering. A harmless bit of fun!

Give us a smile, luv, it might never happen.

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Builder Ian Merrett (left) was accused of sexual harassment for wolf-whistling Poppy Smart, 23 (right)

But just when one might have been tempted to give the anonymous dopes on the building site the benefit of the doubt, one of them stepped from the shadows to give his side of the story — and we can see exactly what girls like Poppy are up against.

Builder Ian Merrett was quick to dismiss her complaints.

‘It’s not worth getting into trouble over some silly little girl,’ he said. ‘I don’t know why she complained. She must be thinking things above her station.’

He added that he would wolf whistle again if she walked past and anyway, whassup? He’d picked up lots of girls by whistling at them, it was no big deal.

The 23-year-old marketing co-ordinator (pictured) claimed builders at a construction site wolf-whistled at her every morning as she walked to work in Worcester city centre

SEXISM SAVED YOUR CAREER Kristen Stewart Twilight star Kristen Stewart says Hollywood is disgustingly sexist and that fame is simply the worst thing in the world. Yes, we must presume that includes cancer, child abuse, pestilence, air crashes, famine, bankruptcy, earthquakes and the last Rolo in the packet. In an interview in Harper’s Bazaar, the whiny 25-year-old said she did not like being famous and thought it was crazy that women had to work harder than men to be heard. ‘Hollywood is disgustingly sexist. It’s so offensive it’s crazy,’ she said. This from a young woman who had an affair with her married boss, the British director and father-of-two Rupert Sanders. They met when working together on the 2012 film Snow White And The Huntsman and carried out a clandestine romance. Sanders’s marriage to model Liberty Ross ended over the affair, as did Stewart’s relationship with her boyfriend Robert Pattinson. Saddled with a newly minted toxic reputation, Sanders has barely worked in Hollywood again. Meanwhile, Kristen has sailed on unscathed. She’s since appeared in five top films and made another five. I would call this career arc discrepancy disgustingly sexist Hollywood behaviour, too. Only you won’t catch Kristen complaining about that. Advertisement

What a brute! Honestly, Merrett is wasted on a building site.

He should work on an allotment, where gardeners could plant potato tubers in the troughs made by his knuckles, for he is clearly the kind of bloke who scrapes them along the ground as he walks.

Merrett’s disdain and belligerence reveal the awful truth. He doesn’t respect females. And if they do not respond favourably to his orangutan advances, he reacts with contempt.

This is a scenario that many women are familiar with. ‘Hey, Blondie. You a lesbian or what?’

If Ian Merrett was a good man, he would have apologised to Poppy Smart.

He might have said: ‘I didn’t realise I was upsetting her. I won’t do it again. It was only a harmless bit of fun.’ But it wasn’t, so he couldn’t.

The local police decided not to pursue the case, but left matters in the hands of the construction firm to sort out — which seemed the most sensible thing to do.

However, the odd thing is that the construction industry has tried very hard over the past few years to stamp out on-site sexism.

On many sites today, builders are not even allowed to chat to the public, while wolf-whistling is regarded as a case for instant dismissal.

That’s perhaps more to do with health and safety issues than a seismic shift in the sex war, but it was still a welcome step forward.

There is a nostalgic tendency to think of a wolf whistle as something cheeky and adorable that Reg Varney did while driving a bus. Or Sid James was prone to do when Barbara Windsor popped a bikini strap.

The cheery sexism of an innocent age has long gone, replaced with something darker and unapologetic. Something that no one should have to put up with in an evolved society.

You can’t ever legislate against male interest in comely females, but a young woman has the right to walk to her place of work in a British town without being ill-treated or feeling threatened and harassed.

So more power to you, Poppy Smart. You did a great thing.

Post traumatic stress disorder: Amanda Holden

Amanda Holden claims she suffered from post traumatic stress disorder after having her second child.

We all know she had a very difficult time during the birth. However, this is a serious condition with life-changing implications for those who suffer from it.

Particularly men and women in the Armed Forces or emergency services, who’ve borne witness to terrible trauma in the line of duty.

Considering Amanda was back at work on Britain’s Got Talent two weeks after the birth, her diagnosis seems rather dramatic, not to say tasteless.

Ditto her pronouncement: ‘I’d be dead if I had another baby.’

Perhaps it’s not PTSD but BOOLAX (Being Out Of Limelight Anxiety) that is her real problem.

Spanx for the memories

Just a few years ago, millions of us happily wore our Spanx to smooth out lumps and bumps.

An entire generation of women used good ol’ Spanx to squeeze into even tinier dresses, all the while grappling with a new range of complicated underthings that gripped like a cobra and sounded like American football team positions: the performance tank, the short shaper, the open bust body, the tight end tights and the super high sheers.

Spanx: The U.S. shapewear giant is struggling to stay viable as women argue that the entire concept of having a perfect body shape is offensive

My first Spanx were a revelation; imagine (or not!) a pair of knickerbockers made like a wetsuit and then welded together with steel and you are almost there.

Spanx were once beloved of red carpet stars, too, but now the U.S. shapewear giant is struggling to stay viable.

They have fallen victim to the new political femscape, one in which women argue that the entire concept of having a perfect body shape is offensive and we should be embracing our curves and not trying to pour them into gut-busting big pants.

‘Compression is just so 15 years ago,’ a fashion expert told the New York Times this week, adding that fat shaming was over.

The hot new thing is ‘athleisure clothes’: garments that are a cross between sports gear and leisure-wear, but which grip so tightly you won’t need Spanx anyway. I can hardly wait.

Twitter be damned, let's write royal nursery rhymes

Prince William wants the birth of his new child to be announced on Twitter. How very modern of him. Is it too early for baby’s first no-make-up selfie?

I can just see the barrage of hashtags: #royalbaby #blessed #cute #cherub #soprecious #followme #lookslikeWills #justsayin. Many of us prefer a more traditional welcome.

So, in honour of the new baby and in a bid to bring back a bit of class, here are some old-fashioned nursery rhymes that have been repurposed for the royals:

Prince William wants the birth of his new child to be announced on Twitter

Prince Georgie Porgie pudding and pie

He’s my bro, I’m going to cry.

For he’s the heir and I’m the spare

Sometimes life’s so darned unfair.

Oh, the Grand Old Duke of York

He had ten thousand girls.

He marched them up to the top of the house

Then he marched them down again.

And when they were up, they were up

And when they were down, they sued.

That party night with J. Epstein?

It’s been awfully misconstrued.

Baa Baa black sheep, have you seen the fool?

Yes sir, yes sir, he’s lounging by the pool.

His name is Uncle Gary, he’s anything but tame.

He gives the clan of Middleton a most unhelpful name.

Oooh, how the worm has turned. I guess Danny Alexander feels he has executed a killer blow by revealing Conservative plans that were sketched on the back of a fag packet and sort of never were.

David Cameron is distraught, terrified people might think he really is a — gasp! — Tory. But consider the electorate, Dave. We are not appalled.

There are millions of us who actually think that cutting child benefits to the first three children is perfectly reasonable. Actually, why not go even further? We’ll all help to pay for the first two, but after that, you’re on your own.

Do parents really feel state-funded benefits are an automatic right? And if so, why so? A large family is a luxury, not an entitlement. If you can’t afford children, don’t have them.

Bridesmaids star Chris O'Dowd wasn't best pleased

Fame's first class fool

Bridesmaids actor Chris O’Dowd wasn’t best pleased when Gatwick airport security staff frisked his three-month-old baby and binned the tot’s milky bottle.

He sent out a typically passive-aggressive smarty-pants tweet —and fumed all the way to America.

Yes, sometimes it is a shock to celebrities when the same rules apply to them as they do to the common herd.

Most travelling parents make themselves familiar with the rules — no open bottles, for a start. They understand that if something triggers an alarm, then staff are obliged to search you and your family, no matter how many Hollywood films you might have made.

Honestly! If other passengers have the manners and good grace to put up with selfish parents who take screaming babies on long-haul flights, then he can put up and shut up with a light frisk now and again.