SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Bleary-eyed Beckham's night with model Poppy Delevingne 

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David Beckham enjoyed a night out in California this week with fun-loving model Poppy Delevingne — who missed her husband's birthday as she partied with the former footballer.

Family man David, 41, who is usually a model of sartorial elegance, appeared worse for wear as he left the Hollywood bar wearing a khaki jacket and red beanie.

Exiting the bar where Poppy's actress sister Cara and pop star Rita Ora were also disporting themselves, he chivalrously held open the car door for bleary-eyed blonde Poppy, 30, who wore a denim jacket and a Louis Vuitton bag.

Family man David Beckham, 41, who is usually a model of sartorial elegance, appeared worse for wear as he left the Hollywood bar wearing a khaki jacket and red beanie

Proving to her 1.1 million social media fans that she hadn't forgotten her husband James Cook (pictured inset with Poppy), whom she wed in 2014, on his special day, she posted this public message: 'HaPpY bIrThDaY to you, my husband, my true blue, my forever boy.

'Your support & love is endless, & I can honestly say I am one lucky weasel to have you in my life. I am grateful for you, everyday & always. Have a magical one, & I wish I was there to kiss that face. I love you.'

Also absent was David's wife of 18 years, designer Victoria, who was busy in London. They recently renewed their vows in an intimate ceremony at home with six of their nearest and dearest.

Blood is certainly thicker than marriage. New Tory MP James Cartlidge, a Cameroon Remainer, has Thatcherite Brexiteer Sir Gerald Howarth MP for a father-in-law — and, in the Commons this week, Cartlidge confessed that his wife Emily had not supported him in the EU referendum. 'She is my father-in-law's daughter . . . in biology and spirit,' he said dolefully. 'On the morning after the referendum, I bought her a bottle of champagne and congratulated her as she was on the winning side.' The Leave vote was costly to Cartlidge in a bigger sense. Had Remain won, he possibly would have been promoted by David Cameron.

Portillo: Handcuff me to Diane Abbott!  

Former Tory MP-turned-TV presenter Michael Portillo, 63, declares his intention to wear even more lurid oufits on the next outing of his Great British Railway Journeys TV series.

'Some viewers may have noticed the handkerchiefs have become rather outrageous,' he says. 'Colourful socks are now very much on the agenda. The other day, I was introduced to the world of colourful shoelaces.'

Asked which train journey he would go on with his friend, fellow This Week presenter and Labour MP Diane Abbott, he says: 'Any. The longer the better. Handcuffed together if possible.'

For Pippa's sake, learn some table manners! 

Reality TV lothario Spencer Matthews, who once admitted to being addicted to steroids, is a man of unusual tastes.

In a picture posted on social media this week, the 27-year-old is shown eating the flower arrangement during dinner with fellow contestant Jake Quickenden from Channel 4's The Jump.

Let's hope these aren't the kind of manners he'll display when he's on the top table alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for his investment banker brother James's wedding to Pippa Middleton in May.

Spencer Matthews is shown eating the flower arrangement during dinner with fellow contestant Jake Quickenden from Channel 4's The Jump

Labour MP Keith Vaz was out enjoying some retail therapy at John Lewis in Brent Cross, North London, on Thursday night when he was upbraided by a disgruntled member of the public. Vaz was eyeing up a £1,600 tan leather armchair in the upholstery department when a man walked up to him and said he was ‘a disgrace to the Labour Party’ and should ‘resign as an MP’. The Leicester East MP was caught last year with two Eastern European male prostitutes pretending to be a washing machine salesman called Jim. Ever the politician, Vaz, 60, had to have the last word with his assailant: ‘Sir, you are not a constituent of mine, therefore, I am not answerable to you.’ Nor, it seems, is he answerable to anyone else.