Wait till your Father gets Home was a cartoon about a guy called Harry Boyle and his family I used to enjoy when I was young. Harry had a right-wing Christian neighbour, Ralph, who used to receive brown-paper packages under the guise of ‘you’ve gotta know your enemy, Harry’. The suggestion, of course, was that Ralph was no more than a hypocrite – gaining a lot of pleasure from the very things he was protesting about.

I was reminded of Harry this week as I read of the Daily Mail’s double page spread venting its fury against the ‘smut’ that was the final of the X Factor this year. You’re probably aware – even if you weren’t watching – that on the final Saturday the X Factor had two guest pop stars singing live (or should that be ‘singing live’) and that the female dancers accompanying one of them were wearing very little and dancing in a sexually suggestive way. I was watching live and – unlike some – did not switch off but continued to watch. Just being honest and transparent with you there.

Many people were uneasy about what they saw; some were outraged and many complained. Reporting on the complaints, The Daily Mail joined in last week and under the headline ‘X Factor sleaze storm grows’ it said that the dance routines ‘could have broken Ofcom’s broadcasting code which seeks to protect children from sexualised content’.  As part of its story, however, the Mail actually published several photographs of the very routines they were complaining about (there’s a selection on their website too). This they did, they said, ‘to show the fury they've caused’. Apparently the number of complaints have doubled since their report.

Other organisations have also been concerned about what appeared on the X Factor including the Christian Institute. You can read their report on the issue here, including a quote from Ann Widdecombe who starred on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, also aired on Saturday evenings. From what I can see their concerns centre on the dangers of children becoming sexualised through watching such images. I’m not a parent myself but I can understand how difficult it must be for those trying to protect their children. The Christian Institute have a long and honourable tradition of protesting on such issues and though I don’t subscribe to much of their theology, I do admire them for the consistency of their approach. They are not in the same camp as the Daily Mail.

So where do you stand on this issue? Maybe you’re one of the 4,000 people who have complained. Good for you. I would only ask, however, that you also complain about many other TV shows, magazines, adverts for clothing etc. that routinely do much the same thing as the X Factor did. And that would have to include Strictly, Ms Widdecombe, because in the few clips of that show I saw it had plenty of bare flesh on view (though not yours!). And while you’re at it a quick note to the Mail is also probably in order because ‘knowing your enemy’ is never a good enough excuse.