Not only does the housing market seem to have turned down, but competition is becoming fierce. While inertia amongst borrowers remains a factor, people now prefer to shop around and to switch mortgages if they become aware of a better offer. All this adds to costs for the lenders, who are increasing in number as insurance companies build their own banking capabilities.It was not always so. When building societies first demutualised, many commentators viewed their lack of exposure to commercial banking as positive. But the market place is dynamic and the clearing banks are eroding the edge former building societies had through their cheaper branch networks. Britain still seems to be overbanked, but the consolidation of this industry will not be easy, not least because of the regulatory issues it will raise.Take the Royal Bank of Scotland's bid for National Westminster. Concern was expressed that it would lead to a very large concentration of small business banking lying within the control of the enlarged group.

For this reason, banks are more cautious over the idea of merging than investors appear to be, given the way bank shares have been marked higher in the wake of the Abbey National/Bank of Scotland news.Into this maelstrom emerges Bradford and Bingley, which has been endeavouring to build a reputation as an independent financial adviser to counterbalance the rather negative press mortgage lenders are receiving. The outlook for Bradford and Bingley looks little better, though, than for similar banks. Members due to receive their windfall shares have the option to sell immediately on favourable commission terms, although past experience of demutualisation suggests there may be merit in waiting to see how interest develops in the shares once dealings commence.There may be some good bets around for investors, though. Abbey National is unlikely to remain independent if Bank of Scotland continues to reject its advances Halifax, too, could be in the frame But the regulator will have his say In banking mergers, as in anything, there ís many a slip. .* Brian Tora is Chairman of the Greig Middleton Asset Allocation Committee.

A former IRA member who became an outspoken campaigner against the organization has been convicted of sexually abusing his daughter. A former IRA member who became an outspoken campaigner against the organization has been convicted of sexually abusing his daughter. Vincent McKenna, 37, of Belfast, was convicted Friday on 31 counts of sexually abusing his 18-year-old daughter, Sorcha. Sentencing was set for Tuesday in the circuit court at Castleblaney in County Monaghan, where McKenna lived for several years.He was publicly identified after his daughter, a first-year law student, waived her right to anonymity.McKenna was convicted of incidents of abuse when his daughter was between 4 and 11 years old.McKenna became prominent as leader of Families Against Intimidation and Terror, speaking out against continued IRA punishment beatings and shootings within the Catholic community in Northern Ireland. The group, which was disbanded last year, also opposed similar violence by paramilitaries on the Protestant side..

A butcher was jailed for two and a half years yesterday for threatening to send videos of his wife having group sex to her parents in a dispute over their divorce settlement. A butcher was jailed for two and a half years yesterday for threatening to send videos of his wife having group sex to her parents in a dispute over their divorce settlement. Julian St Quinton, 33, was found guilty in August of blackmailing Samantha Stone into dropping her demands for an equal share of their £85,000 home after their four-year marriage ended.At Hull Crown Court, St Quinton, of Blacksmith's Corner, Easington, East Yorkshire, simply raised his eyebrows as Judge Cracknell passed sentence. St Quinton was also jailed for nine months, to run consecutively, after he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a 16-year-old girl in 1997.Judge Cracknell told St Quinton: "As far as women are concerned, you are something of a predator. You used your undoubted charm to manipulate this girl."Commenting on the blackmailing of Ms Stone, Judge Cracknell said: "You knew your ex-wife was anxious that [the video] should not be revealed to her parents You used that knowledge in a cynical way These matters are for the courts to sort out and not you.". Shortly before 7am on 9 October, Steve Taylor sat glued to a computer screen, watching with growing concern as a line began to climb vertically on his monitor. Up it rose until, near the top of the screen, it triggered an alarm: soft at first, then louder until it sounded like a foghorn.

Shortly before 7am on 9 October, Steve Taylor sat glued to a computer screen, watching with growing concern as a line began to climb vertically on his monitor. Up it rose until, near the top of the screen, it triggered an alarm: soft at first, then louder until it sounded like a foghorn. It was the moment when the Great Floods of 2000, as they will surely come to be known, began. Within hours the river Uck had spilt into Uckfield in East Sussex, while Lewes had been inundated by the Ouse.For Mr Taylor, a 33-year-old hydrologist, and his colleagues on the Sussex flood defence team, this was the start of the longest "flood event" in at least a century. The team, responsible for issuing flood warnings that have doubtless saved lives, has been working round the clock - monitoring all the region's waterways, assessing weather patterns and alerting the emergency services to problems before they happen.Since 7 October they have put out 25 severe flood warnings where lives and property were seen to be at risk. Normally, they issue about six warnings a year.Living on takeaway junk food and taking cat naps when they can, members of the 19-strong team have been operating from an incident room at the Environment Agency offices in Worthing, complete with maps, charts and a bank of computers."It's been crazy here," said David Bonner, 33, the leader of a four-man flood-warning unit within the team. "On the worst day, people were working up to 23 hours, but we've been averaging 12 to 15 a day."The unit's most vital work is done by the four-man warning team - Mr Taylor, Mr Bonner, Graham McLelland and Jonathan Hunter - whose task is to monitor water levels constantly and predict where and when floods will occur.