‘Daft’ is such a wonderful word. Not for the first time, I’ve wished I was from Yorkshire, so that I could say it with its full gumption and contempt. It’s not used as much as it should be, and the reason may be that practically everybody’s daft right now – metaphorically picking their nose and chewing it, and being very pleased indeed with the result. As Wet Wet Wet almost sang, daft is all around us – and one of the most exquisite examples has just been served up by the ubiquitous actress Olivia Colman, who says: ‘I’ve always described myself to my husband as a gay man.’ This is not actually as much fun as the Daily Mail headline (‘Olivia Colman, 52, says she feels nonbinary and describes herself as a “gay man” to her husband’) but as Colman has three children, it’s either a miracle of science or someone is off with the fairies – and not in a wholesome, queer way, but in a very daft way indeed.

Colman was speaking to the ‘Them’ website (tagline: ‘Get the best of what’s queer’) to promote a forthcoming project, described in a dismayingly obedient way by the Daily Mail:

‘Olivia’s comments come as she stars in new queer film Jimpa which tells the story of Hannah (Colman), mother to nonbinary child Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde), as they travel to Amsterdam to visit Frances’s grandpa Jim (John Lithgow)… the film is directed by and based on Sophie Hyde’s real-life experience, with Jim based on her own “gay activist” father, and stars her own trans non-binary child Aud Mason-Hyde as Frances’. (Sounds a ruddy riot)

Colman opines:

‘Throughout my whole life, I’ve had arguments with people where I’ve always sort of felt nonbinary. I’ve never felt........

© The Spectator