Tracy Brabin has had the last laugh after shoulder-gate – and I’m laughing along with her

The Labour MP dared to expose the bit of your body that attaches your arms to your neck. But a lot of people reacted as if she had turned up in parliament topless, writes Jenny Eclair

The infamous dress has been put up for auction on eBay and has reached bids of over £17,000 (PA)

Tracy Brabin is having the last laugh after last week’s shoulder-gate. For those who have been living in a cave: Brabin, a remarkably youthful 58-year-old and the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, hobbled into parliament last Monday on a plaster-cast leg to speak passionately about No 10’s selective press briefings. Earlier in the day, the shadow culture secretary had attended a music event (for work) and quite correctly worn something with a tiny bit of edge to it: an off-the-shoulder dress costing a princely £35 from Asos (incidentally, the dress has now entirely sold out and if Asos has any sense, they’ll sign Brabin up for their next ad campaign). As Brabin’s injured ankle forced her to lean heavily on the despatch box, her frock seemed to slip a little lower than she’d anticipated, revealing even more of that filthiest part of women’s bodies – the shoulder – and Twitter mayhem ensued.

Suddenly, the woman who had taken over the murdered Jo Cox’s constituency was facing a tirade of sexist abuse, with users saying she looked like a “slag”. Actually, she looked like a woman in very good nick wearing a dress (personally I just wondered what kind of strapless bra she was wearing, and whether it was comfortable). Remember: Brabin had exposed the bit of your body that attaches your arms to your neck. But a lot of people reacted as if she had turned up topless.

Obviously had she been a Conservative MP, Brabin would have no doubt had a handy cashmere pashmina on hand and modestly draped herself in it, but she didn’t, because she was an MP who had dressed for one gig and ended up doing another; and anyway, it wasn’t as if a bosom had fallen out and you certainly couldn’t see her knickers.