Women now have it easier than men but still 'whinge' about inequality, Ann Widdecombe has said.

The former Tory MP, 70, said that while feminists in the 1970s called for equal pay, nowadays women make 'pathetic whines for special privileges'.

Writing in Radio Times, she said: 'Women have never had it so good. We have a woman Prime Minister (again) and a woman in charge of the Metropolitan Police; and we have women chief executives, women judges, women running media.

'Here a woman, there a woman – but everywhere a bleat, bleat. It's the age of the whine and the whinge, of the moan and the groan. And, oh, do the women know how to milk that for all it's worth, while the men, poor wimps, stand by and meekly watch.'

Women now have it easier than men but still 'whinge' about inequality, Ann Widdecombe says

She also ridiculed criticism that older women are discriminated against in the media, arguing that she lost Strictly Come Dancing in 2010 not because of her age but simply because she did not have the skills.

'Of course I was never going to win, but that had nothing to do with my age, sex or looks. It was because, to state the bloomin' obvious, I couldn't dance,' she said.

'A 'Dalek in drag' was one of the kinder comments from the judges. Being 63, a woman and tubby did not stop me getting to week ten out of 12, but nobody with two left feet can credibly expect to win.'

On sex equality, Miss Widdecombe said: 'Until the 1970s it was lawful for employers to advertise a job with two rates of pay, one for men and one for women.

'It was likewise lawful to refuse a job, finance, property rental and mortgages to women on no grounds other than their sex. The feminists of those years yelled that all we wanted was equality. Now that has turned into a pathetic whine for special privileges. No, thanks, sisters. I'll do what I've always done and compete on merit.'

Writing in the Radio Times, Miss Widdecombe also ridiculed criticism that older women are discriminated against by media

She added: 'So keen are women to embrace victimhood that members of the #MeToo movement wail about flirtatious conduct decades ago and even a Cabinet minister whimpers about an off-colour joke of several years earlier. It's enough to make one wonder if we should have stayed at home darning socks.

'The biggest mystery of all, however, is why the men so cringingly put up with it all … Get a life, girls!'