A sorry state of affairs

Sorry used to be the hardest word. Nowadays an apology is an automatic requirement for anyone in public life unfortunate enough to fall foul of a self-appointed Inquisition ready to jump on well-meaning, if infelicitous, comments. Its latest target is Ben Broadbent, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, who in an interview with this newspaper described the UK economy as entering a “menopausal” era.

He explained that this phrase is used to describe economies that were “past their peak and not so potent”.

Mr Broadbent evidently does not believe that menopausal women are no longer productive; nor did he consider the term “sexist” since he believed it applied to men as well, though that is arguable. He was trying to use a description that people would understand, since economists are always being accused of statistical wonkery and remoteness.

But rather than being questioned on what he was actually saying about the economy, Mr Broadbent found himself the quarry in a hue-and-cry to force him to apologise and justify his fitness for the job.

As he himself has conceded, the analogy he used might be upsetting to older women who would probably feel affronted at the implication that they are somehow no longer making a full contribution to society. It was, he said, a “poor choice of language”. But that is all it was. Hounding Mr Broadbent for harbouring inappropriate genderbased thoughts is unfair.

The grovelling apology is sometimes perfectly justified for outrageous behaviour. We are in grave danger of diminishing its status by insisting that every unfortunate remark is worthy of one.