Lifestyles of the rich and shameless

Unless you have been living in a cave for the duration of the Easter vacation then you will probably have read about Home Secretary Jacqui Smith whose husband claimed the cost of two pornographic movies on her expenses bill.

Now whilst I am pretty narked that our hard earned tax-payers’ money is being used to fund a politician’s husband’s guilty shenanigans, I do admit to having a little sympathy for the fact that Smith’s husband has been vilified by the press as some sort of seedy pervert. No, he should not have claimed these movies on his wife’s expenses, however he is not exactly a hideous sex pest for having watched a couple of naughty films, is he? The question I am trying to ask is: how far do we have the right to judge what people can and cannot do in their private lives?

I believe that the press has no right to criticise Richard Timney for simply having watched these films; after all he is a responsible adult who should be allowed to do as he wishes providing it does not hurt anyone. Claiming the movies under expenses was wrong; watching the films in the first place wasn’t.

Unfortunately we now live in a world where we think we have the right to tell everyone what they can and can’t do. Look at the example of Jade Goody; every Tom, Dick and Harry thought that they had the right to criticise her for wanting to document her final days or for keeping the nature of her cancer from her two young sons. It may not have been the way we would have done things, but that does not automatically make it wrong.

The right to make our own decisions without outside scrutiny and to have some sense of privacy seems to be rapidly disintegrating. First we are told, for example, we should go to work on an egg, then we hear that eating more than one egg a week can be harmful so we shouldn’t do it, now we ear that that was a load of baloney and that we should eat as many eggs as we wish! Why can’t we be trusted to make our own decisions? Why do we have to be told to wear a seatbelt or a cycle helmet? Can we not decide for ourselves?

The fact is people are scared of taking responsibility for their own actions. Instead of making a decision and accepting the consequences, people prefer to follow someone else’s instructions and then blame them when it goes wrong. Individuals should choose whether they were a seat belt in their car. If they choose not to, then they accept the consequences. We cannot babysit people. They must be free to use their own minds, and make their own decisions.

We all have the right to freely act as we please providing we do not hurt anyone and this includes those in the public eye. We have a brain and a dash of common sense and we should be free to make our own decisions and choices. In a world where Google Street Map can watch our every move, CCTV cameras are abundant, and the media follow celebrities like crazed stalkers it is easy to stick our nose into other people’s business and to tell them how to live their lives, but this is not our right.

Richard Timney may be mortified for having been caught watching a porno, but I will bet that a large number of those tutting and shaking their heads will have a secret copy of Dirty Nuns or Hanky Panky 4 at the back of their DVD cupboard.