DUNCAN BARKES There are some people who are just crying out to be gagged

This ongoing saga, coupled with the increasingly-tedious phone hacking allegations, raises new questions about where the line should be drawn when reporting on the personal lives of celebrities.

It strikes me that some celebs don’t feel they have made it unless their voicemail has been hacked or they have had to pay a fortune in legal fees to obtain a media gagging order.

However, I do quite like the idea of gagging orders. I just wish that they could be applied to certain ‘personalities’.

Let’s start with the actor Tony Robinson, the bloke who was brilliant as Baldrick in Blackadder. Taking part in the Anti Cuts march in London last month, Mr Robinson railed against the government’s belt-tightening strategy. He is just one of the same old faces jumping on the latest anti-establishment bandwagon.

Eddie Izzard is another. Without doubt one of the greatest comic performers of our time, he has found it necessary to become a flag-waver for the ‘Yes to AV’ campaign, which climaxes today with the referendum.

Just concentrate on being brilliantly funny, Eddie.

I would also like to ‘gag’ Nick Clegg, if only to prevent him from making cringe-worthy statements about his political position. For instance, claiming ‘I’m not a punchbag’ (in relation to the press) having sold his soul for a whiff of power is just a teensy bit irritating.

Clegg has played a blinder by getting his party in government, but such a move comes at a cost, which he is now finding out. But as Enoch Powell once said, ‘For a politician to complain about the press, is like a ship’s captain complaining about the sea’.

Various Premier League footballers should be gagged simply because they seem unable to open their mouths without swearing, demonstrating a woeful lack of understanding of the real world or gobbing everywhere.

I would also gag Sir Cliff Richard. Not because of his songs, but because every couple of years he moans about how radio stations never play his new records. Musical tastes change and evolve. Having a back-catalogue of successful tunes doesn’t give you the right to airtime.

And in no particular order, here are some others I would happily never hear from again: Kerry Katona, Peter Andre, Lord Alan Sugar, Cheryl Cole, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ringo Starr, Vince Cable and Jason Gardiner. So, portly local newspaper columnists aside, who would you ‘gag’?