My .. our financial affairs will be changing soon, so I'm trying to find out which UK bank is best. And I don't know.

This page says that Alliance & Leicester is best, if by best you mean "has the highest interest rate on a current account today".

The problem with that is that interest on the current account is not large at any rate, and that banking is a long-term commitment. Also you want more than a high-interest current account. You want good customer service, and a range of other services like travel insurance (including "risky" activites like going to Africa and winter sports), credit card, overdraft (without the usual gouging), investments (tax-free and otherwise, and interest rates on these are important), cost of ease of getting foreign exchange, overseas cash machines and the fees thereon, air miles, etc. etc.

This page lists Smile, First Direct and Alliance & Leicester.

So: who to go for, who to avoid? Do the internet-banks like Smile and First Direct have all the necessary facilites?

You may commence the argu...debate.