In this age of each man for himself, old versus young and the haves against the have-nots, it has become de rigueur to whine about the only institutions to have emerged from the recessional ooze apparently unaffected and, what's more, still rolling in it: the banks. Those glistening glass oblongs standing bullishly against the swampy Docklands horizon have become as easy a target for our communal bile as a dartboard the size of Jupiter, say, or crosshairs big enough to encompass a whole city within their sniper's viewfinder.

Whitehall departments have had to pay millions of pounds extra in severance packages after their cost-cutting redundancy programmes attracted more applicants than expected.

The deal

A police force has recommended that compulsory retirement for officers after 30 years' service is withdrawn as it plans some "modest recruitment".

For nearly 30 years, Jake Willams has lived as a hermit in the Scottish wilderness for thirty years. He explains why he could never go back to a 'normal' life

Foreign travellers coming to the UK from countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis will have to be screened for the potentially fatal infection before being granted a visa under new rules, the Immigration Minister said today.

Pensions savings have hit a record low as hard-up workers prioritise other payments above saving for their retirement.

Pensions savings have hit a record low as hard-up workers prioritise other payments above saving for their retirement.

If you're seeking finance to help with the cost of your home improvements or perhaps to change thefamily car, a personal loan from your bank or building society is often the first port of call.

Absent parents owe £3.7bn in child maintenance but the agency in charge of securing payments only believes it can collect £1bn of that, a committee said today.

It was handed to the community by author Mark Twain more than a hundred years ago. Now that community is fighting to keep it open. A group of protesters became a figurehead for the host of anti-library closure campaigns across the country yesterday as they barricaded the doors and stopped its shelves being stripped of books.

Children's television programmes including Blue Peter and Newsround will be moved off BBC1 and BBC2 as part of the corporation's cost-cutting measures.

Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 150 PS between 3,500 and 4,000 rpm
Torque: 320 Nm between 1,750 and 3,000 rpm
Fuel consumption (combined cycle): 68.9 mpg
CO2 emissions: 106 g/km
Top speed: 134 mph
Acceleration (0-62 mph): 8.6 seconds