Pandora: Bob's girls just want to have fun

Pixie Geldof and her precocious sister Peaches find they are criticised for their hell-raising antics, but Sir Bob's 18-year-old daughter says it's not easy being the offspring of a living saint.

"I get that people are annoyed at me and my sister for not doing things like he did but it's hard," Pixie told me at the 02 Wireless Festival.

"But you know what, if I found something worthwhile that I felt very passionate about I would definitely do that kind of thing.

"Anyway, I finished school today so I'm really happy about that."

US take on 'Gavin and Stacey'? Whatever

When the British actor Simon Pegg discovered his sitcom Spaced was being remade in the US without his consultation, he hastily issued an angry statement describing the move as a "flagrant snub".

Mathew Horne, whose award-winning series Gavin and Stacey is also to be given the American treatment, isn't quite so precious.

Horne, who won't be involved when NBC gives the series a makeover, isn't fussed as to how the Americans remake his show.

"Not in the slightest. To be honest I couldn't care less – they can do what they want with it," he tells me.

"They could choose Zach Braff or else some obscure actor to play my part, it doesn't matter.

"The obvious step would be to have a guy from New Jersey meeting a girl from the deep south – I guess that's the way they'd go.

"Anyway, who knows when it will happen with these strikes going on?"

Meanwhile, Horne is currently busy with his co-star James Corden writing a sketch show for BBC3, which will be released next year.

While NBC is still "developing" ideas on how to repackage Gavin and Stacey, the BBC is now attempting to sell the original to American audiences.

"We're flying out to LA next week to do a promotional tour for it being released on BBC America. It's going to be shown there in September," Mathew adds.

Tariq's still hot from head to toe

Many lefties tone down in their old age, but Tariq Ali has lost none of his fire. The Lahore-born writer and anti-war campaigner is disappointed with his old chum Tony Benn.

"The one criticism I have of him is that he never left the Labour party," he complained to me. "Especially with the Blair accession to power, he should have quit. Many of them should have, but they stayed."

Ali was speaking at a party at the London Review bookshop, and was casually sporting a pair of white trainers. "I just bought them from a shop in Kentish town," he added.

Embers spins for Major

Former England cricketer John Emburey was happy to defy the Government when he took part in both "rebel tours" to South Africa during apartheid.

However, he reckons it's right that Zimbabwe's tour here next year has been cancelled. "I don't think we should be playing them and it does not help with Pakistan and Sri Lanka saying they will," he told me at a party for the young Lord's Taverners. "I sat next to John Major at a function recently. He thinks Mugabe will be gone in six months."

Boris's minder arrives

As Boris Johnson attempts to navigate tough times at City Hall, the London Mayor has sent for the cavalry.

Johnson, whose deputy mayor Ray Lewis stood down last week over allegations of sexual and financial misconduct, has recently been joined by his formidable former secretary Ann Sindall.

Sindall, a no-nonsense Yorkshirewoman, took up her new post last week as Johnson's gatekeeper. She was his secretary for six years as editor of The Spectator, and he took her from his previous employers at The Daily Telegraph.

A fitting tribute for rock-hard Vinnie

Vinnie Jones was hardly a player for the footballing purists, but there are moves afoot to have him immortalised in stone.

The ground once belonging to the former hard man's old club Wimbledon is currently being turned into a 600-home community by developers Barratt Homes.

For sentimental reasons, they want to name the new apartment blocks in honour of some of the club's former players.

Barratt are also planning to have a statue of one player erected on the site.

"We haven't decided on anything yet but it's certainly something we're considering," says a spokesman for the project. "But Vinnie was definitely my favourite player."