The housing market is virtually dead - most major cities and towns already have stocks of built but unsold flats. Lowering interest rates will not help sell these as people are afraid that they will lose their jobs - in which case even a nil interest rate will not persuade them to buy.

Carol, London, UK

We need a huge cut in in interest rates immediately to try and get some money supply. At least to 4%. However Mr Brown has left the economy in such a diabolical state that it could destroy the value of Sterling. We are caught on the high seas between two sets of rocks and the tide is going out fast

DJ, London, UK

GB summons the governor of the 'independent' Bank of England - nothing to do with rates then... It won't make much difference, just a stunt, to be seen to be doing something.

M.O., London, United Kingdom

Hopes for a cut?
Not me as a saver I will be worse off. So will most others when inflation rises accordingly.
It was excessive spending that got the UK into this mess - how naive to think that it will get you out of this mess. Like feeding more drugs to a junkie.

Gareth Jones, Dusseldorf, Germany

Ah! So much for the "independent" Bank of England MPC - it's received its orders from Downing Street, and their will shall be done. Herein lies the road to socialist ruin (once again).

Steve Cox, Porthcawl,

The stocks, although they went down a little bit, seem to be doing OK now - without the US bailout. So what was all the big fuss then?

David, Cambridge, UK

It won't stimulate spending - the country has too much debt which needs to be reduced. It will devaule the pound and increase inflation. Rates should be held or increased, not reduced.

AndyN, Reading,

Incredible that the deal was scuppered in congress by the (female) Speaker's scathing comments on the opponents of this deal.
Also incredible that any reconsideration of the bailout plan has been delayed 2 days by the Jewish New Year Bank Holiday.
The Islamic extremists must be laughing at this

David Nammory, Liverpool,

We need a shock & awe cut in interest rate. The media is so downbeat and their negative vibe is being absorbed by the masses which is creating fear and panic which is becoming self fulfilling. We need inflation to erode the value of debt & low interest rates to get the hosuing market going again

Rupert, London, UK

Inflation was largely driven by energy price hikes feeding through into everything else. Aside from that, what inflation? Drop the interest rate, increase the supply of capital and let the pound drop in value. That will redress the foreign exchange imbalance and encourage manufacturing exports.

richard, horley, uk

Cutting interest rates will make no difference to the housing market. With banks now risk averse they will not be making 5x salary loans and they will be looking for at least 10% deposit. House prices are going to have to fall 30 - 40% before we see any movement. A cut is good for inflation though!

Chris, Chipping Norton,

I think we must trust our elected politicians to get on with the job. It's the only option now. This is really no time for novices, neither Cameron nor Miliband.

Peter, Liverpool, UK

How nice of them to cut interest rates.I'll get less on my savings now,to help out the bloody inept clowns who have brought the world economy down.I'll spend the lot, go on benefits and make the government support me.Why should I be prudent - I get no help for being so,but the idiots get bailed out.

eric campbell, harrogate, uk

The ecomomy needs to be modelled and run on the real rate of interest rate not on a temporary fix that will pro-long the credit crunch. The goverment need to hold!. The main cause of this turmoil was false low interest rates in the first place..

des, London, Uk

What possible beneficial effect could a rate cut have now? Lack of liquidity and capital, and lack of credit are problems which will keep consumer and business interest rates high regardless. Inflation may be peaking but who knows? Interest rates are following the Libor.

Paul Freeman, London, England

With all the recent coverage and information out there, it is amazing how many people still believe that the MPC meet once a month solely to decide people's mortgage repayments. "But I'm on a fixed rate how does that help me?"; "The banks don't pass on the cuts to mortgage holders", they moan.

Frank Hegarty, Farnborough, UK

@Oliver in Colchester

You didn't do Ecomomics at school did you? Where did you get a figure of 10% to 20% from, or is this your own measure of inflation? The UK Government borrow money in sterling, they also pay it back in sterling therefore currency fluctuations wouldn't affect payments.

Matthew, London, UK

Put the rates up to help the pound and stop irresponsible borrowing.

m wilson, bidache, France

Trying to keep the property bubble going by interest rate reduction would merely trick the young and unwary into the ultra-overpriced property trap. The primed bomb to go off any time.

There is no point in economic management by trick and pretense. Face the consequences of over indulgence now!

NoWayOut, Harrow, UK

Are we not mad, why should the BOE reduce rates thus increasing pressure? Have we forgotten Black Wednesday? Surely reducing rates will just prolong the correction required by the markets?

Harry Singh, Gravesend, Kent, UK

Even if they do lower the interest rate, mortgage lenders will not change their rates, so it will not achieve what it is intended to do.

CA, Manchester, UK

Even if they cut base rates it won't be passed on by the mortgage companies. They'll keep it for themselves and will just raise rates instead!

Edward Lewis, Wheelbarrow Town,

No no no! Rates need to go UP not DOWN. It's soft debt and easy borrowing that got us into this mess in the first place.

We need to encourage people to save and invest not try and re-inflate the bubble and make a bad situation worse.

Mark R, Rugby,

30% of the borrowers are on trackers, so it will actually help a lot of people. I never understand why people fix their rates. Since what goes up always comes down pretty quickly (that includes base rate, hence tracker rates)! Trackers are often cheaper to book than fixed rates.

Mac, Manchester, UK

"And the next run will be on the Pound! Bye Bye inflation target!"

Yawn! There will be a run on the pound if there is no action anyway. If the recession is abated with agressive cuts in base rate, then that will be preferable and the pound will benefit. Inflation is back in control now anyway!

Mac, Manchester, UK

Hold rates until Q1 2009, by which time we should have a view on how deep this is going (all the way I expect).

Liam, Bedfordshire, uk

Can some tell me if your house has fallen in value by 30% can we expect a cut in council tax?? or put off the re-evaluation due in 2010.

WHUNTE, Croydon, UK

It is wrong to blame food/energy prices or all of the interbank lock-down on this Government. It is absolutely RIGHT to blame this Government for borrowing their way into power until there was nothing in the kitty. And now Brown will try to save hs skin by cutting rates/risking systemic inflation.

Michael, Ascot,

The lag effect of lower rates even a derisory half point will give no solace to borrowers in the next few months. Drastic action (rates cut to 2%) was needed in February to avoid the tanking economy. Its hard to stomach the fact these goons have the best predictive models yet they do nothing useful.

Will, Lincoln, UK

Absolute madness, the rate cuts in the US have not really made much of a difference. Surely we should be rewarding savers and support the pound?

Richard Weed, London,

Leave interest rates alone. Let's reward saving not borrowing. Cutting interest rates now will cause the pound the fall in value increasing the cost of imported goods leading to more inflation. We rely on imports for everything thanks to Brown's legacy.

Rahul, London,

Am I missing something here, the last time interest rates were reduced mortgages and the LIBOR went up! Quite frankly neither Brown nor King have a clue what to do. Just as power, greed and corruption killed communism the same has done for capitalism. This is going to be catastrophic...

Dean, Manea, Cambs, England

Maybe I'm missing something, but if the problem is bank liquidity stifling lending, then how can a rate cut help? Borrowing may then be notionally cheaper but lenders will be even less willing to lend.

Surely Money needs to become more expensive thus attracting deposits and easing bank liquidity?

Stephen Cox, London, U.K.

'Gordon Brown summons?' I thought Mervyn's role was to control inflation and not just meekly do Gordon's bidding. Unfortunately (for Mervyn), he is between a rock and a hard place, and he is likely to find himself scapegoated if he doesn't inflate the economy in time for the next general election.

Alan Gooch, Honiton, UK

And the next run will be on the Pound! Bye Bye inflation target!

Tim Walton, Leeds, Inflationland

Does it really matter what the Bank of England do with interest rates? Whilst LIBOR remains significantly higher than the base rate there will be no tangible reduction in the cost of borrowing for the banks, meaning that the drop in the BoE rate will not be reflected in the borrowing rates on offer

Dale, Woking,

Cutting interst rates will just stop savers and investors from putting money into UK banks at a time when they need the deposits so badly, it will also lower the pound making imports more expensive & push inflation higher. It was low interest rates which got us into this mess, when will they learn?

David, Croydon,

It's amazing isn't it. We're so up to our eyeballs in debt that the merest sniff of a recession, just a few months of negative growth, and the whole world is off the rails... Hardly sustainable planning...

Bob Jones, London,

It seems that the base rate of the BofE is now pointless and that any cut will be irrelevant to me as a mortgage payer. The Banks don't pass any cut onto their borrowers - unless ur on a tracker. Since the last base rate cut the interest rate on my mortgage has gone up, not down! Who will benefit?

Nick, Coventry, UK

With Libor rates going north, it will not make any difference to interest rates in the money markets.
Until house prices stop falling and the market knows that most of the toxic assets held on bank balance sheets are accounted for fear will remain in the wholesale funding market.

Ron, Dunfermline, UK

I thought that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committe was made independent by Gordon Brown in 1997 ??
Mind you, he abolished ' boom and bust' at the same time and that has proven to be empty rhetoric as well.
The final days of all Labour governments always end in financial chaos.

R.McGeddon, London, England

Only a government spokesman (or spokesperson) would describe a meeting like this, at a time like this as 'routine' Just laughable.

Robert, Billericay, Essex

It is a time for courage,and this means that a quarter per cent rate cut in October should not be sanctioned.
It will do no good, and will inevitably result in more problems. down the road.Hard to accept,but true.

jackie, paphos, cyprus

The Bank of England needs to cut it's rate by at least .75% in order for there to be any hope of reinvigorating the markets, retail, housing and stock markets.

Act now before it's too late

pf langa, preston,

How short sighted can you be,to cut rates would put the cost of living up more.Ture inflation is 10/20% if you won't to help the markets make the £ strong, but the national debt is so high that if the £ gets stronger, they would have to pay more on the national debt to creditors. time to come clean!

oliver, colchester,

No no! Rate must hold to counter inflation. Reducing the rate in the hope of a temporary boast would further limit our options when the economy reaches its bottom next year.

Chris, Cambridge,