Papers examine Bob Diamond's new job at Barclays

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The appointment of Bob Diamond as the new chief executive of Barclays bank prompts strong feelings in a number of Wednesday's newspapers.

To the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309686/Barclays-gives-Bob-Diamond-job-HSBCs-Stephen-Green-joins-government.html" >Daily Mail he is "a quintessential casino banker". </a>

But the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/7987880/Diamond-is-good-news-for-banking-and-Britain.html" >Daily Telegraph says he is "a good man" who "deserves it" and it is "good news for banking and Britain." </a>

The <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/2010/09/07/millionaire-banker-is-barclays-boss-115875-22544229/" >Daily Mirror</a> calls him a "hundred million pound gambler", while the <a href="http://www.ft.com/home/uk" >Financial Times</a> sees his elevation as an insulting gesture to the government.

Taxman 'enemy'

<a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/198102/Our-taxpayers-are-treated-worse-than-anti-social-scum/" >"A sprawling empire of bureaucracy and waste" is, according to the Daily Express,</a> an accurate description of the department which oversees our taxes.

The <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sean-ogrady-my-tangles-with-hmrcs-culture-of-bullying-and-fear-2073170.html" >Independent's economics editor</a> is keen to disabuse anyone who might think well of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the wake of tax calculation errors.

He describes his one-sided encounters with an authority that, he says, "runs on a culture of bullying and fear".

And a cartoon in the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/" >Daily Telegraph</a> makes explicit what others imply - the idea that many see HMRC as the enemy.

Defence spending

The <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/3129044/New-Sarge-died-a-herobut-MoD-rules-hes-a-corporal-and-cuts-his-pension-20-a-week.html" >Sun criticises the Ministry of Defence</a> for reducing the pension paid to the family of a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan.

It describes the MoD as "a nest of gin-swilling bunglers who have squandered millions while ignoring the needs of our Forces."

And <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/07/defence-budget-expensive-showing-off" >Simon Jenkins, in the Guardian criticises some service chiefs</a> who are trying to avert spending cuts.

He argues that the defence budget is "awash in waste".

New dancers

Events to mark the 70th anniversary of the Blitz are widely reported.

The <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/" >Sun has a commemorative pull-out poster </a>has a commemorative pull-out poster and the <a href="http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/198170" >Daily Express criticises German politicians </a>who object to plans for a monument in to "honour the heroism" of RAF bomber command.

Finally, the contestants on the new series of Strictly Come Dancing are examined by a number of papers.

The <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/" >Times</a> says the BBC has put "age before beauty" and the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1309957/Strictly-Come-Dancing-2010-line-revealed--recognise-contestants.html" >Daily Mail notes the line up is "starrier than usual".</a>