The most controversial article I have written in my career as a newspaper journalist has nothing to do with politics, war or poverty. It’s about air conditioning.

Three-and-a-half years ago, I wrote for this newspaper about a new study that suggested office thermostats were generally set according to the metabolism of a 40-year-old man who weighs 11 stone - which is several degrees lower than it would be for an average woman.

At the time I didn’t think it was controversial at all. To me, the study proved what most people who work in offices experience on a daily basis: women generally spend the summer months searching for scarves and emergency jumpers to put on top of their dresses, while men roll up their sleeves and complain about how warm it is.

That scientific study proved that women are most comfortable at 24-25C, which is 2.5C higher than a man's ideal temperature. Obviously, there are exceptions. It’s all based on body mass and metabolic rate, so it will be different for individuals. But on the whole, women need a bit more warmth than men, and yet offices generally set their temperatures at the rate for men. This is, by definition, sexist.