That men and women talk differently and are written about differently is obvious: singer Jamie Cullum learning to juggle work and life with daughters is news – it would hardly be so with a female singer.

But words are read and listened to differently, as well. It’s said that in committees a woman may often make an important point or suggestion and no one will take any notice, but when a man makes the same point slightly later, it will be accepted as seriously important.

This may be the case in other ways: I am indebted to human rights barrister Dexter Dias for insisting, as I did, that the ghastliness of FGM, grounded in patriarchy, must be taken up more by men if it is to be abolished. And I hope private equity mogul Guy Hands is widely listened to for insisting, as I have often done, that we must stay in the EU, however we reshape it, simply not to go back to the time of the conflicts between states, the persecutions of minorities, the wars and massacres we had before the EU.

I hope he’s listened to, since he’s right, but it might be even better if he were defended by majors and generals, even if they believe, as I suppose Nigel Farage must believe, that we would be bound to win the next war.

It’s not only the way that you say it that matters: it is who you are.

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