There is a time and a place for everything. But it seems we don’t know when that time is or where that place is anymore.

This week Government minister Hazel Blears said political correctness had, in fact, (dare I finish this horrid sentence) gone mad.

Examples put forward were incidents where a school left the lights on at night in case potential burglars injured themselves in the dark and the suspension of a nurse for praying for her patients.

However, most of these incidents are rare. It is just when they happen we debate the issue over and over again.

You have to admit those that make these decisions tend to be people who forget there is a thing such as common sense.

Most cases these days, however, tend to be incidents where people are generally being a little too nice and presuming they might offend someone.

Much of this is well-meaning. So, should we really be vilifying people for actually being too polite?

If someone wants to remind me that there are bacon butties in the buffet then so be it. Not that it matters much to me but in the grand scheme of things who cares if someone chooses to tell me?

More to the point, these days it is not that we fear offending people we just don’t know when we have.

Most people understand you can’t say particular things whilst other comments can in fact be laughed off. It is just sometimes people end up putting their foot in it more than anything else.

But the problem has more to do with the continued need to claim for everything. The idea that I could in fact take advantage of someone else and get some money out of it is not entirely a British one. But somehow it has slowly become engrained in our social psyche.

Now, more than ever it is quite easy for people to be offended by almost anything because you know full well that there will be a pot of gold in it for you if ‘play your cards right’.

I’m not saying everyone is out to make some quick money but it doesn’t take a genius to work out the ones that are. Now, I know somewhere down the line someone might have got offended by something said in this column.

All I have to say, relax. Call the solicitor and put a claim in. After all, it’s your money to lose, not mine.