There’s plenty to be suspicious about in the Weinstein row

Why are all the women involved in the Harvey Weinstein allegations only speaking out now? That question has been asked repeatedly – including on this blog – since the accusations against the film mogul first emerged. Why now? Ross Clark suggested on Coffee House yesterday that women who had achieved what some of the actresses and UN goodwill ambassadors had managed should be brave enough to speak out about someone who appears to have been a serial predator over many years – but that they failed to do so because their allegations date back to when they were ‘on the make’.

It’s a fair point, isn’t it? But isn’t it just a little odd that a slightly different species of fair point tends to appear whenever any sort of woman complains about abuse and assault? There’s the ‘fair point’ about a woman wearing certain clothes and drinking a certain amount, ending up in a certain place with a certain man.