A male friend of mine – not a close friend, and a lot less close now – asked me the other day why I was so ready to believe Dr Christine Blasey Ford over Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who denies her accusation that he sexually assaulted her at a party 30 years ago.

The rush of reasons nearly choked me.

There’s… the chain of evidence, from the time of the party, through to her therapist later, then the confidential letter she sent to her senator in July about  it when Kavanaugh was first nominated, and then the polygraph test she passed. And, hopefully, by the time you read this there will also be the testimony she has given, despite death threats to  her and her family, to a Senate committee at an open hearing.

There are the other women coming forward.

There’s the Senate’s refusal to allow an FBI investigation or to subpoena witnesses.

Lucy Mangan’s response to man asking why she believes Dr Ford over Brett Kavanaugh