WOMEN must not be cast aside while “middle-aged men with the same surname” lead the EU referendum debate, civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti warned yesterday.

The outgoing director of campaign group Liberty said it was important to ensure that discussions were not “dominated by people who are too much the same.”

Ms Chakrabarti singled out two male politicians on opposing sides of the debate, Boris Johnson and Alan Johnson, to make her point.

She said: “Now don’t get me wrong, Boris and Alan are very talented and charismatic politicians and writers, but should the pro and anti campaigns be led and dominated by middle-aged men with the same surname?”

Ms Chakrabarti then mischievously pointed out that “Johnson” is slang for penis in the US.

Speaking in London at the Southbank Centre’s Women of the World Festival, she said that, while the next few months would be interesting for British politics, the cause of women must not be overlooked in the EU debate.

Ms Chakrabarti used her speech to address the issue of gender equality, saying: “The last 12 years in this job, the last 14 years in activism, have taught me this — gender injustice, in my view, is the greatest human rights violation on the planet.”

She added that this was so in both the developed and developing world, going on to describe gender injustice as a form of “apartheid.”

The Women of the World Festival, which ends today, is a week-long celebration of women and girls which features talks, performances, exhibitions and workshops.

Among the issues up for discussion this weekend are feminists throughout history, the plight of women refugees and female genital mutilation.