Same old City greed

EVERY time there’s a flicker of hope that the City may have cleaned up its act after the greed and dishonesty that preceded the crash, another scandal emerges.

Such is the Mail’s revelation that insurers are prying into customers’ personal details, from shopping trips to web-browsing habits, in a bid to identify those least likely to switch to rival companies.

The sickening aim is to punish customers’ loyalty by charging excessive premiums to those lacking the time or computer knowhow to shop around. Inevitably, the elderly and vulnerable are hardest-hit.

This paper welcomes the Financial Conduct Authority’s inquiry into this latest example of egregious, greed-driven abuse. MAIL campaign (1): Ministers have ‘dismally failed’ to protect Afghan interpreters who served with our troops. So says an excoriating report by MPs, which finds not one interpreter has been given sanctuary in the UK under a scheme to rescue those at risk from Taliban reprisals. For years, this paper has campaigned to honour our debt to these brave men. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson must act with all speed – before more pay for their loyalty with their lives. MAIL campaign ( 2): In a hugely welcome development, the number of drivers convicted of using a mobile phone at the wheel fell by almost a third last year after stiffer penalties were introduced under pressure from this paper. With police cracking down, this is powerful evidence that habits are changing. Lives will be saved as a result.