"It takes all kinds of meat to make a good sauce," said Massino, the one-time proprietor of a Queens restaurant called CasaBlanca. "Some people, they kill. Some people, they earn, they can't kill."

The Treasury officially set out the terms of the scheme yesterday. Banks will pay a fee of 0.28pc for guarantees on 80pc-85 loan-to-value mortgages, 0.46pc on 85pc-90pc loan-to-value ratios, and 0.9pc on 90pc-95pc loan-to-value ratios. The Treasury expects the average Help-to-Buy mortgage will be an 86pc loan-to-value deal.

(Chris Stone)

"With open data on the rise and with our efforts to make our data more accessible, I think there's a lot of really interesting initiatives and things that can come out of this," said Wales.

4) Queensland or Tasmania? Given the attractions of the Great Barrier Reef, it has to be Queensland. Tasmania, of course, has its own charms, but nothing quite compares with diving on the reef or exploring the magnificent Daintree rainforest.For days out at historic properties and gardens, take a look at the suggestions on the English Heritage site (). At the bottom of its "days out" page, it has a section called "special days out with dogs" with a huge variety of ideas (more than 60 places in the South West alone) including abbeys, Roman forts and castles.