Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Spectator’s Notes | 2 November 2017

Also: what male MPs and male puffins have in common

Poor Gordon Brown. He embodies the problem traditionally associated with being male, which is that our sex finds it difficult to understand human feelings. Mr Brown recognises, he says in his forthcoming autobiography, that he was not suited to a touchy-feely age. Perhaps it was just as well, because once men, particularly Members of Parliament, start touching and feeling they get into even more trouble, and discover — often too late — that not everyone they touch and feel welcomes it. They are, you might say, groping in the dark. Once upon a time, a high percentage of women understood this defect and usually forgave the opposite sex. But now the quality of mercy is strained by the age of equality. This trend is understandable, but also sad.

Adam Nicolson gave a beautiful talk in our village hall on Saturday, arising from his new book, The Seabird’s Cry. He evoked the pathos of the appearance of the puffin, illustrated with ‘before and after’ pictures. Before, the bird looked gloriously, as Adam put it, Edwardian — glossy in its black morning coat, with an eye elegantly shaped as if by make-up, and a confident, posh beak. After, the undecorated eye peered nervously from an emaciated face, the feathers stared and the end of the beak resembled a dried red chilli. What made the difference, Adam explained, was sex. The good look was for May, and mating, the sad one came with the ensuing winter. Male MPs now look like winter puffins.

Windsor has always had two stations — Central and Riverside — a fact which causes multiple inconveniences. Considering that it is the most visited tourist site outside London, it is absurdly badly connected. I recently met a man who thinks he can solve this, and do much more besides.

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