Tim Hunt shouldn't resign. He should lead the way against sexism in science | Van Badham

Instead of sacking or silencing every person who offends our sensibilities, why don't we try learning from them instead?

It's a fraught prospect when a feminist finds herself sharing a side with Boris Johnson, the Tory mayor of London. Yet the case of Tim Hunt, the Nobel prize-winning scientist who has faced an internet tsunami of feminist wrath for his sexist comments about women in science, has compelled me into a superficial alliance with Johnson, a man whose own habitual sexism I have protested in person.

Like Johnson, I don't believe Hunt's comments warranted his forced resignation -but this is not because I think Hunt shouldn't be criticised for his "light-hearted, off-the-cuff speech".