You can see where the Office of Fair Trading is coming from in launching an investigation this week into the charges levied on workplace pension schemes. There has been a raft of work by fund manager David Pitt-Watson and others which suggests that pension pots would be a third higher if charges in this country were at the same level as, for example, in Holland.

Surely a couple of sessions a week throughout the year rather than a daily grilling and diet for 31 days would be more beneficial?

Kurdistan and Iraq still can't agree on payments for oil exports, but that hasn't stopped Tony Hayward and Nat Rothschild's Genel Energy shipping black gold out of the country.

While most were topping up their glasses ready for a midnight toast, 160 Britons spent the hour after 11pm on New Year's Eve filing their tax return, according to HMRC.

Serves 10

These delicious, irresistible New Year’s Eve canapés are easy to make – with the help of our man in the kitchen. Just prepare for a stampede from your guests.

Thanks to the cold weather and TV on demand, I've caught up on a whole year's worth of great (and not so great) Christmas TV

Tis the season to spend time with the family - and fight others for that half price scarf in Next

It pays to make a tasty meal out of leftovers

Around 9,000 servicemen and women are deployed in Helmand Province an

Even as instability continues in the Central African Republic, Unicef are doing everything they can to give former child soldiers a proper Christmas day

It's Christmas and you know what that means...turkey, and arguments

Those festive sorts at the Government's Health and Safety watchdog, wearied presumably by annual comparisons to Dr Seuss's Grinch, have released their own guide to Christmas, debunking twelve myths about their work and its party-pooping nature.

People buying food and last-minute presents face a race against time today as shops have been restricted to only six hours of opening.