IT is a tribute to Cherie Blair's loyalty that she seems determined to stand by the friend who helped land her in such an awful mess. I am not sure what it says for her common sense though.

Mrs Blair reportedly pays her friend, a "lifestyle guru", £5,000 a month for fashion advice, fitness tips and exotic scrub-down therapies.

So it would not surprise me in the least if this New Labour Government were now to consider a "feng shui" consultant to clean-up Britain's neglected inner-cities.

JEAN ALLISON (Mrs)