Max Mosley has won his case and the judge has ruled that there was no substance to him being involved in a 'Nazi-style' orgy. It was this accusation which caused some prominent people to shun Max, but it was clear from the News of the World's own reporting that it was nothing of the sort and Pitpass said so. Besides, you have to be pretty sad to take a moral lead from The Screws.

If he had engaged in a Nazi-style enactment, I wouldn't be happy to see him continue in office. Actually, there are many reasons why I want to see him go, but enjoying spanking is not one of them.

Max's surname has dogged him and prevented a career in conventional politics, a career for which he was eminently qualified. It is true that he has never renounced his parents' politics and, indeed, was briefly involved with them, but had he carried those views into maturity, he would not have gained the wide circle of friends he has.

At the time of the Ecclestone cheque to New Labour, it was revealed that Max had made a personal contribution of £50,000 to the party. On the evidence of that, he supports, or supported, our present leftish government.

The cheap end of the British press is depressing. All newspapers have a problem which is news, and how we receive it. TV text services, 24-hour rolling news channels and the Internet have replaced what used to be the press's main function. Some at the sleaze end of our market treat soap opera story lines as though they were real life. One consistently leads with stories about the current run of Big Brother. Forget Iraq, forget Darfur, the hot issue is a TV programme which is basically the equivalent of a freak show.

Max was awarded £60,000 which is not the punitive damages he sought, but is still a record in the class of action he brought. News Corporation will have to pick up the legal tab which will be getting on for a million. His damages in this instance cannot be compared to libel damages (which can be astronomical in the UK), but he is now suing The Screws for libel. If the case comes to court, he has the comfort of knowing that a High Court judge has dismissed claims of there being Nazi overtones to his sex session and to me that seems like an invitation to pursue a libel case.

He is also suing the German newspaper, Bild, for using the video. I am told that Bild can be even worse than the British press, but let's not take national rivalry too far. It may be coincidence, but Ralf Schumacher seemed to lose his edge after Bild published accusations about his private life. There was a time when it seemed that Ralf could be a World Champion, but then a sleaze rag got involved.

The Screws, which trades on base instincts, played the xenophobia card by intimating that the Human Rights Act was EU legislation foisted on us. In point of fact, our government helped to draft the EU model, along with every other member state, and our parliament voted for it.

Naturally The Screws bleated about the freedom of the press and it being a bad day for investigative journalism, though I cannot imagine what The Screws would know about that since it has never done investigative journalism. In Britain, it is the broadcast media which does serious investigation.

There was no issue of public interest in exposing Max. He is not an MP, a cleric, or any of the other people who tell us how to behave. When such people are caught with their pants down, they deserve all they get. Max kept his tastes private and had every right to do so.