It's time for banks to pay back their ill-gotten gains

MIKE DAILLY The credibility of UK banks has plunged deeper than Dante's Inferno. The shoddy lending practices of "sub-prime" specialists in the US witnessed a historic crash this year with consequential instability in the UK. With the crisis in full swing and the Northern Rock mooching a bail-out from the UK taxpayer, a journalist - posing as a first-time buyer - was offered a mortgage six times his salary from the Rock a few weeks ago.