In Chapter 3 I discussed public moralism – including by various elements of the media – in relation to art, specifically the photographic work of Bill Henson. But public moralism, including by the media, is not restricted to the moral issues raised in such cases. In this chapter I shall consider a very different kind of case: moralism about the actions of elected political leaders. To focus on the moralism that is at issue here, consider the following passage from David Owen's book Balkan Odyssey (1995), his account of his role as European negotiator between the warring parties in the former Yugoslavia. After sending a letter to the press and British prime minister urging military intervention to end “the morally outrageous happenings in Yugoslavia”, Owen has lunch with his friend Stephen Wall, the prime minister's private secretary.