Oh, dear. A bad situation made worse by a mansplaining idiot.

Funny, it didn't take BSFA so long to condemn Martin Lewis when he insulted Moffatt.

This appeared on the day and Ian Whates made the following comment in Paul Cornell's Facebook page (again, on the day)

" Plenty to say, Paul, plenty... Some of it will even be in public. Words such as 'sorry' and 'apology' may well feature, along with phrases such as 'personal opinions should not be expressed via accounts directly associated with the BSFA'. There'll be other words too, but they may not be in public."

So from the outside, the BSFA condemnation was quite swift. I get that there was a formal, official apology three days later, but the BSFA stance was clear right from the get go.

Perhaps I have missed it, but so far all I've heard is crickets from folk who speak from an official capacity. And unpleasantness from those who do not.

The Twitter stream is hilarious (writes someone who didn't have to sit though the speech).

On a point of accuracy, though Martin is currently a BSFA committee member, he is clear that his post is not a formal response from the BSFA, but his personal opinion.

I have apologised and resigned from the BSFA. I did not mean to come across as defending John Meaney's presentation. I thought I was making it clear that I disagreed with the contents of the speech, which I thought were insensitive and inappropriate. I wrote the original post after an angry encounter in which I was accused of believing things I do not believe and of being responsible for things for which I had no part. I should have bit my tongue and stayed off the internet until I was calm but I thought some reactions I was exposed to were unfair. I did not mean to cause offence to anyone and apologise if I did.