Max Mosely

Not being a motor sports fan I had not heard of Max Mosley prior to allegations about his sex life being reported in the British tabloid newspaper, the News of the World. Mosley was the President of the FIA that represents Formula One Constructors and in essence he operated in a small community. However during the media reporting, together with the rest of the world, I also learned that Mosely was the son of Oswald Mosely the leader of the British Fascists in the 1930’s and 1940’s and I had heard of him.

I also learned that in March 2008 the newspaper, released video footage of Mosley engaged in sado-masochistic sexual acts with five sex workers in a scenario that the newspaper alleged involved Nazi role-playing. Mosley admitted that it was, indeed, him depicted in the released footage but he strenously denied that the activities involved a Nazi type theme. Whatever your views on this matter, one thing is crystal clear. Despite the fact that Mosely must have been a man of some intelligence, he apparently didn’t have the foresight to either realise that he was being filmed or was bright enough to take an interest in the distribution of the video that had been made. Or, like most men in senior positions, he may just have been arrogant enough to believe that he was “fire proof” and could simply please himself without having to face the consequences.However, outraged that the News of the World publicly released the video, Mosely resorted to the High Court in an attempt to prove that there had been an infringement to his rights of privacey. In July of the same year Mosley won the High Court Case when the presiding judge, Mr Justice Eady, found in his favour and said, “ I see no genuine basis at all for the suggestion that the participants mocked the victims of the Holocaust."

Inexplicably, Mr Justice Eady suggested that if Max Mosely had been involved in a Nazi orgy he would most probably have found in the newspaper's favour on the basis that Mr Mosley is a public figure, and that “people of all races and religions' with whom he has to deal with in his job, might have been shocked. However, despite the uniforms, use of the German language and other suggestive props, Justice Eady did not believe that the orgy was based on a Nazi, death camp.Therefore the judge found in Mr Mosley's favour.

However after he was vindicated by Justice Eady, Mosely became the self appointed champion of privacy laws and he even went on to address a Parliamentary Select Comitte looking at this matter. Mosely claimed that he had been permanently robbed of his dignity and the whole affair had caused great distress to his wife and children. Quite clearly shame is an entirely foreign concept to him and he seemed to conviently forget that, when all is said done, he played more than a significant role in his own downfall. In short like many other public figures before him, he got caught up in a web of deceeipt of their own making.Max Mosely saw himself as a victim and was allowed to take the moral high ground, blaming the press for exposing his depravity

Mosely is not a figure of great importance and despite his position in motor racing, he was not well known outside of the sport. He did not have a public platform to address the public on conduct and behaviour and presumably he did not expect his staff to comply with any code of conduct relating to standards. Speaking personally, I would rather not have read about Max Mosely and by any standards the Formula One boss was guilty of depraved behaviour. He used his wealth to degrade five women and he betrayed his wife and his family and undermined his position as a representative of well known global brand. So despite the outcome of the case we are still entitled to continue view Max Mosley as morally reprehensible.

But, having said that, I don’t believe the newspapers had the right to expose Mosely because his behaviour was not contrary to any public image he was trying to portray and therefore he could not be accused of being hypocrypt. Max Mosely likes to be whipped by hookers and although this may seem alien to some he has never gone on record condemning such behaviour. Therefore his behaviour does not impact upon the social landscape as he does not represent any instituion or organisation trying to shape the way we live our lives.

To date not too many strong public-interest cases have come under scrutiny as many of the privacey cases that have ended up in Court thus far have tended to to be rather trivia .For example it may include the publication of wedding photographs (no doubt already sold off to a magazine in an exclusive deal) or photographs of children or private holidays on a beach.However where it becomes more difficult, and where we must take a stand, is in relation to a public figures who puts forward a view which is relevant to his public persona but completely inconsistent with his private life. This is the crux of the matter.

In a nutshell how are voters expected to trust their leaders to act honourably and honestly in their public duties if they are not doing so in the most important aspects of their private life? What price local democracy if the misdoings of our politicians or police are disregarded and the incompetence or corruption of our council officials are swept under the carpet Max Mosley wants rich and influential men to be able to control the way in which their lives are reported, so that they appear to us not as they really are, but as they want us to imagine them to be.

Seemingly old fashion and timeless virtues such as honest, integrity, virtue, loyalty and resoponsibility are simply dismissed as unimportant. Yet despite the political elite trying to excuse the behavior of the great and the good it is my opinion that it is your character and your values that build trust. Ironically those who were quick to defend Mosely are slow to champion the rights of the prostitutes who were traded as pawns for his own personal gratification. Article Eight of the Human Rights Act guarantees every citizen the right to respect for their family and private life.However if people who publicly champion decent standards and community values but act contrary to these values in his/her personal life then shouldn’t we have the right to know?

Verdict: Max Mosely was a high profile representative of a multi million pound private sector organisation. He has never come to the fore championing standards or promoting social responsibility. On his own admision he had been visiting prostitutes for many years, betraying his wife and family in the process,but that should be a matter for them. If Formula One are happy to have Mr. Mosely representing their global brand then so be it.
Stop Press : See the case of John Terry