TONY Blair must have thought all his Christmases had come at once when his loud-mouthed, troublesome father-in-law announced this week he was leaving Britain for Ireland.

But it was churlish of Tony Booth to complain that daughter Cherie would probably be rushing to help him pack his suitcases.

Cherie has been inordinately tolerant and forgiving of her selfish, feckless father over the years. She helped care for him when he was ill and welcomed him into her family, long after he had abandoned her and her siblings, leaving her poverty-stricken mother to bring them up alone.

This attention-seeking, fading actor has been little more than an embarrassment ever since, exploiting his relationship with the Blairs in a desperate attempt to stay in the limelight. He now claims he is leaving the country because the treatment of the old in Britain is beneath contempt. That's rich.

The self-righteous Booth clearly loves the sound of his own voice. But a man is best judged by how he treats those closest to him and it is hard to accept such worthy sentiments from someone so lacking in compassion in his private life he has left a long and sorry trail of forsaken wives and children in his wake.

Cherie's good nature is a testament to her remarkable mother Gail. Now, her opinions, unlike Booth's, really would be worth listening to.

ALTHOUGH I didn't have a clue what was going on, like everyone else, I was thoroughly caught up in all the excitement of the rugby World Cup on Saturday. Does this mean that, at last, people will stop banging on about 1966? It was such a long time ago, it was getting a bit embarrassing.

WE don't know if Michael Jackson is guilty or not of the charges of child molestation put to him last week. But he's certainly guilty of being strange beyond belief. He's a 44-year-old who lives in a childhood fantasy land, full of toys, sweets and games, called Neverland, and admits to sharing his bed with young boys. Although born black, he has dramatically lightened his skin and radically altered his face through extensive plastic surgery. He was recently seen dangling his baby, conceived using a surrogate mother, over a balcony with a 50ft drop. Bearing all this in mind, aren't the parents who allow their children to sleep over with such a man unsupervised guilty of something too? Leaving children home alone is an offence in the States. But leaving them home alone with a character like Jackson isn't. Can't they be tried for neglect, cruelty, gross stupidity or greed?

THE novelty cushions, soft toys and Tupperware featured in the photographs taken inside Buckingham Palace by the phoney footman Ryan Parry remind us that, despite their money, the Windsors are ordinary. Even the banquet the family threw for George and Laura Bush revealed their distinctly suburban tastes. Hyacinth Bouquet could have written the menu - or Le Menu. It was all in French, even dishes like salad - sorry, Le Salade - that had nothing remotely French about them. Why? Does the Queen, like Hyacinth, have a bit of an inferiority complex, causing her to act over-the-top posh when she is desperate to make an impression?