PM meets with UK bank chiefs

The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, met with bank chiefs on Tuesday morning in order to discuss a number of factors relating to the credit crunch, including the housing and mortgage sectors, and their effect on the economy.

The meeting held at Downing Street included chiefs from HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Nationwide. Officials from 10 Downing Street said that the meeting was nothing to do with crisis talks, but was a meeting that had been planned for some time.

Following the meeting the Prime Minister said that he would not be put off from making the right long term decisions for the UK even if they proved unpopular in the short term.

Amongst the things that were discussed at the meeting were how confidence could be restored in the housing and mortgage markets and the importance of lenders passing on the full base rate cuts to borrowers.

Mr Brown said: “I will not hesitate to take these long-term decisions. That’s what being in politics is about. Of course sometimes it is unpopular in the short term. Sometimes you might get no temporary advantage out of what might be the right long term thing to do.”

He added: “We’re taking all the measures that we can and we will not be diverted from this as a fundamental priority.” He also said: “we’ve got to show people who are worried about their homes and people who are worried about their mortgages and people who are worried about their jobs that we can ensure that the economy is safe for them over the next few months.”

David Cameron from the Conservative Party has said that Labour have wasted a great deal of money, stating: “What people are really interested in is what would you do for the future and what I’m saying very clearly is that spending needs to be properly controlled.”