According to a column in Sunday's Observer, there are people having a go at the Beckhams for the number of children they've now had.
David and Victoria Beckham may have been overjoyed to welcome their new daughter, Harper Seven, last week but, according to a growing group of campaigners, the birth of their fourth child make the couple bad role models and environmentally irresponsible.
As the world's population is due to hit seven billion at some point in the next few days, there is an increasing call for the UK to open a public debate about how many children people have.
Not because he used to play for Manchester United but just because because, I feel like coming to the defence of David and Victoria Beckham. First off, ahead of having the public debate, this verdict on them is premature; there's no policy as yet on the number of children people may have, and the right to have any number is widely regarded as a fundamental freedom in our society. Second, even if it shouldn't any longer be one, even if there are now too many people in the world (an issue I shall pass over), it isn't clear that by having four children David and Victoria have behaved irresponsibly. Since some people have no children, some other people can be permitted to have more than the 2.3 (or whatever the relevant average is) to attain the simple replacement birth rate. Who's to say it mustn't be them? So until further notice, and at least on this account, lay off the Beckham parents.