"On a typical evening, we would all go out for dinner after work - then the men would go off lap-dancing and I would end up going home. I was never asked if I wanted to go and I made it clear that I wasn't interested in that part of the evening. "As a woman in the City, you have to go against your instincts and become as political as the men if you want to survive. If that means playing golf and networking the same way as the men, then that's what you have to do. It's not enough being good at your job."Such was the male-driven culture at a leading City investment bank that confronted one woman as she rose up the corporate ladder. She successfully sued them for sexual discrimination after it became clear that her lap- dancing colleagues were earning much higher bonuses than she was. Because of a confidentiality clause in her settlement, she cannot be identified.She added: "That was the nature of the game. They basically pay you vast amounts of money and you have to give your life to the company in return.

All defendants were convicted and given sentences ranging from a conditional discharge to terms of imprisonment. Among the cases was one in which he accepted a claim by a defendant who was a world authority on child abuse that he had downloaded child pornography for research purposes.Selwood was put on the sex offenders' register for five years after he admitted the charges last month.A spokeswoman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs said that the Lord Chancellor had "no specific powers" to force a judge to forfeit his pension.Detective Superintendent Jon Hesketh of West Midlands Police, who led the investigation, said: "No one is above the law, regardless of their role or position in life. That's the price you have to pay to be a woman in the City."Hers is not an isolated case. I hope this case sends a clear message to the general public that the police will pursue and bring before the courts anyone who downloads images of child abuse.". He is one of 7,000 suspects who supplied their credit card details to an internet child pornography site based in the United States. A Crown Court judge caught by an American investigation into child pornography on the internet escaped a prison sentence yesterday after admitting downloading indecent images of young boys. David Selwood, who retired from the bench on grounds of ill-health shortly before he was formally charged, was given a 12-month community rehabilitation sentence and will keep his £33,000-a-year pension.Selwood, 70, a former major- general from Winchester, Hampshire, was arrested after the FBI passed his details to British police.

Despite the rift, Mr Blair is thought unlikely to move him from the Treasury.. One said: "There is a price to pay in terms of relations [with Mr Brown]. But he is very determined to go on and feels he has the momentum to do so."In a round of interviews about the three-year spending blueprint he unveiled on Monday, Mr Brown was questioned about reports that the relationship had sunk to an all-time low following Mr Blair's decision to lead the party into the next general election."It's the job we do that we'll be judged by, not the positions we hold," he told GMTV "Tony Blair and I laugh when we read these stories. Gordon Brown insisted yesterday that he was happy to remain as Chancellor as he sought to play down differences between him and Tony Blair. But allies of the Prime Minister admitted that the relationship between the two men was strained because the Brown camp had believed that Mr Blair was ready to stand down this summer.

We talk all the time, we've got to get on with the business of government despite these press headlines and we do, and I will continue to do that."On BBC Radio 4, the Chancellor hinted that he would not welcome a move to the Foreign Office - a proposal urged on the Prime Minister by Blairite ministers who resent Mr Brown's control over domestic policy. I think over the weekend I talked to him about half a dozen times about the spending review and about other issues in the Government. Tony Blair today welcomed the Butler report saying it showed the Government and intelligence services acted in "good faith". The Prime Minister told MPs the report showed errors were made in drawing up the September 2002 dossier on Iraq's weapons.But Mr Blair said: "No-one lied No-one made up the intelligence. Labour officials are seriously concerned about the party's finances following the decision by the GMB general union to withhold £744,000 from the election campaign fund.