Despite overwhelming evidence there is still continuing reluctance from politicians to accept just how useless short prison sentences are

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Budget 2013: George Osborne extends public sector pay freeze

Wage rises would be limited to an average of up to 1% in 2015/16

Bloody Sunday offer 'an insult'

The authorities have offered compensation to the families of 13 people shot dead in Bloody Sunday in 1972 and to those who were injured in the incident, it has emerged.

Marsh: 'Obviously, I am completely against any form of terrorism'

An explosive reaction to Jodie Marsh's 'Semtex' weight-loss pills

Oh Jodie, love. While we would defend anyone’s right to cover themselves with eclectic tattoos, dye their hair nuclear scarlet and get into spats with Katie Price, she has made something of a slip-up when it comes to branding. Marsh has released a weight-loss aid called – wait for it – Semtex. Like the plastic explosive used by the IRA.

People with autism are ready to work - but this programme isn't helping

Just 15 per cent of those who have the condition are employed

Editorial: Only the beginning of a pensions revolution

The concept of employees needing to opt out of saving for their old age, rather than opt in, is indeed a revolutionary one. But although the blandly named "automatic enrolment" scheme that starts today is being heralded by many as the biggest shake-up of the pensions system since Lloyd George set it up, in practice the reforms will make only the smallest dent in Britain's impending pensioner poverty crisis.

Standard Life boosted by pension worries

Scottish firm set for encouraging results after a year of rule changes

Crooks targeting the old in £28m scam

Elderly are being flogged worthless wine and coins, and tempted into dodgy property land-bank deals

How I was taken in by 'Britain's Madoff'

The mastermind in Britain's biggest Ponzi fraud lived like a playboy until his scheme collapsed, leaving a trail of broken lives. Cahal Milmo spoke to one of his victims

Last night's viewing - Racing with the Hamiltons: Nic in the Driving Seat, BBC1; Alex Polizzi: the Fixer, BBC2

Good news for armchair Formula One drivers. Nic Hamilton, brother of the rather more famous Lewis, consistently comes first when they play video racing games. Imagine that. Lewis cheerfully owned up to as much in Racing with the Hamiltons: Nic in the Driving Seat, recalling an occasion on which he'd spent all day beating his younger brother's lap time on a particular track, only to have him come back from school and best it within five minutes. It's the kind of thing that I'm sure has flickered through the fantasies of many callous-thumbed petrol-heads, but the next bit could only happen in meat-space. That's when the former world champion turns to you and says, "You know, you're really good at this. Why not do it for real?"

Investment view: Standard Life's a safe bet but room for improvement

Our view: Hold. Share price: 219.8p (3.1p)

How to solve Britain's growing pension crisis

With life expectancy rising, and cutbacks to public spending, it's time to get a financial plan ready your retirement.

Peer accuses banks of pocketing ISA tax relief

A Tory backbench peer will today accuse the high-street banks of "taking advantage of people" by withholding tax relief on cash ISAs. Baroness Stowell of Beeston will call on the Treasury to get tough on the financial institutions that she says are short-changing savers.

David Prosser: The beginning of the end for the savings market as we know it

Outlook For Standard Life and its rivals in the UK life and pensions sector, the next 18 months will see a phoney war. The real action in this marketplace begins at the end of 2012, when the Financial Services Authority at last implements the recommendations made by its retail distribution review, a process that began five years ago. The most significant of these reforms will be an end to commission payments to independent financial advisers from product providers.

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end