London: An unrepentant Daily Mail is standing by its front-page focused on the legs of two of Britain's two most powerful women, Prime Minister Theresa May and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, saying critics, including the "po-faced BBC" need to "get a life."
The British tabloid's Tuesday front page was widely condemned as an example of sexism that prominent women in public life face. It's first edition featured a photo of Mrs May and Ms Sturgeon meeting in Glasgow on Monday while both wearing skirts, with the headline "Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it?"
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The later edition featured an additional line "Sarah Vine's light-hearted verdict on the big showdown."
Vine wrote in her column, that the suits worn by both women shows that "there is no doubt that both women consider their pins to be the finest weapon in their physical arsenal."
![The front page of the Daily Mail on Tuesday.](/web/20170330223654im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/8/k/q/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gv8kjt.png/1490734042779.jpg)
"Consequently, both have been unsheathed," she added.
Vine, who is married to former Conservative Party minister and now backbencher Michael Gove, said Prime Minister May's "famously long extremities" were "demurely arranged" "that reminds us that for all her confidence, she is ever the vicar's daughter."
And she wrote of the First Minister "Sturgeon's shorter but undeniably more shapely shanks are altogether more flirty, tantalisingly crossed, with the dominant leg pointing towards her audience."
"It's a direct attempt at seduction:Â her stiletto is not quite dangling off her foot, but it could be. 'Come, succumb to my revolutionary allure,' she seems to be saying. 'You know you want to.'" Â
Men at Mail create #legsit.
— John Prescott (@johnprescott) March 28, 2017
Public outcry.
Men change front page & blame Sarah Vine.
Vine doesn't mention #Legsit https://t.co/k6GkgWcmsG pic.twitter.com/EUTHaawtO6
In an interview with the BBC's World at One program, Vine defended her column and suggested those criticising the paper and her column had experienced a "slight sense of humour failure."
"In the piece I don't just talk about their legs, I should just point that out," Vine said.
"No, you talk about their jackets as well," noted host Martha Kearney.Â
"Yes, no I've also talked about how they mirror each other, how they're sort of sitting in the same position, do you know what I mean? There's quite a lot going on there," Vine responded.
"We're a tabloid newspaper, that's what we do," she added.
A spokesperson for the Daily Mail urged its critics to "get a life" and questioned if the "po-faced BBC" and "left-wing commentariat" had lost its sense of humour.
"For goodness sake, get a life! Sarah Vine's piece, which was flagged as light-hearted, was a side-bar alongside a serious political story," the spokesperson said.Â
The Mail rejected suggestions its front-page was sexist, saying it was consistent with its focus on the appearances of male politicians.
 "We often comment on the appearance of male politicians including [David] Cameron's waistline, [George] Osborne's hair, [Jeremy] Corbyn's clothes - and even Boris's [Johnson] legs. Is there a rule that says political coverage must be dull or has a po-faced BBC and left-wing commentariat, so obsessed by the Daily Mail, lost of humour …and proportion?"
"It appeared in an 84-page paper packed with important news and analysis, a front page exclusive on cost-cutting in the NHS and a health supplement devoted to women's death issues."
"For the record, the Mail was the paper which, more than any other, backed Theresa May for the top job." The prime minister on Tuesday refused to criticise the paper and joked that she was wearing trousers on her visit to the West Midlands. "If people want to have a bit of fun about how we dress, then so be it," she told the Wolverhampton Express and Star newspaper.
The BBC reported that Britain's press regulator IPSO had received 300 complaints.