The hypocrisy of those outraged on behalf of Ben Stokes

I can understand why Ben Stokes and his mother would rather not be reminded of the murder of the cricketer’s half-siblings by their father in New Zealand in 1988, three years before Stokes was born. His reaction, calling the Sun’s publication of the story as ‘immoral and heartless’ and ‘contemptuous to the feelings and circumstances of my family’ is way over the top. But it isn’t his reaction which bothers me, but that of those who have decided to be outraged on his behalf.

Alongside the army of Tweeters expressing their hatred of the Sun, the campaign group Hacked Off swiftly released a statement saying: ‘It is abundantly clear that nothing has changed. Some newspapers are just as incapable of abiding by principles of human decency and basic journalistic ethics as they were during the phone-hacking scandal.’