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Chancellor Philip Hammond has been caught up in a sexism row after reportedly saying driving trains is now so easy “even” a woman can do it.

Sources close to Mr Hammond, however, have strongly denied that he made any such comment, insisting the phrase was uttered by another minister unfairly caricaturing Hammond’s position.

The Chancellor was said to have been arguing that trade unions still have a stranglehold on who gets trained as a train driver, despite the nature of the job having changed considerably.

He reportedly asked colleagues when was the last time they had seen a female train driver, before pointing out that there was no physical bar to them doing it.

(Image: PA)

As he explained how simple driving a train now is, he ended, sources claim, by saying “even they can do it” referring to women.

Mr Hammond was accused of making the remark in front of the entire Cabinet — outraging female colleagues, including the PM.

Pauline Cawood, 53, a train driver for more than 20 years, told the Sun: “It’s an old-fashioned, sexist comment.

"He ought to be ashamed of himself.”

(Image: PA Archive)

She added: “Women are just as capable as men at driving trains. What’s that man been doing for the past 50-odd years?

Mr Hammond’s comment on Tuesday during a discussion about rail strikes was revealed by political commentator James Forsyth.

Complaining about the grip unions have on selecting train staff, the Chancellor, 61, asked why it is so rare to see female train drivers.

He argued that driving a modern locomotive was so simple now that “even they can do it”.

(Image: Rex Features)

His remark caused shock around the table. When he tried to clarify what he meant, he was reportedly interrupted by Mrs May, who reportedly said: “Chancellor, I am going to take your shovel away from you.”

Around 5.5 per cent of the 19,000 train drivers in Britain are female, up from 4.2 per cent in 2012.

Labour MP Jess Phillips said: “Philip Hammond has disgraced himself with this remark, as well as managing to insult half the country’s population.”

The Treasury refused to comment.