Gordon Brown promised last night that Britain would “roll up its sleeves” and sort out the crisis in the banking system.

Confirming government plans to raise the guarantee for bank savings to £50,000 from £35,000 in banking reforms to be put to Parliament soon, the Prime Minister also repeatedly emphasised in a series of interviews that savers with the rescued banks had lost no money.

He said: “I think people can see from our actions so far that depositors have been protected. No UK depositor has lost money.”

But he and the Treasury said that there was no intention of following Ireland’s decision to guarantee all deposits and loans. They believe that such a move is unnecessary because deposits in failing banks are guaranteed and that a blanket cover would induce rather than restrain panic, making people feel that the situation is worse than it is.

“Wherever there has been a problem we have intervened and dealt with it,” the Prime Minister said. “Let’s remember, the Irish are dealing with taxpayers’ money here.”

David Cameron offered the Government bipartisan support for measures to tackle the crisis.

George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, left the Conservative conference in Birmingham for an emergency meeting with Alastair Darling at the Treasury. The Conservatives promised to help through legislation to make it easier for the Bank of England to wind up failing banks while protecting savers.

In a series of interviews, the Prime Minister said that the Government had taken measures needed to put confidence in the system. “Everybody knows the foundation of your ability to run your lives financially is trust in your financial institutions,” he said. Mr Darling is understood to have told opposition politicians that no other British institutions were known to be in imminent danger of collapse.

Mr Brown said that the United States had a duty to fix the financial crisis afflicting the world and that it had to be resolved in America. He called on the US Congress to reverse its decision on Monday to oppose President Bush’s $700 billion rescue plan.

“What has happened is clearly disappointing and clearly a matter of regret because it has created so much uncertainty, not just through America but around the world,” he said.

“I’m confident that reason will prevail, reason must prevail and I think reason will prevail.

“When people have seen in Congress and in Senate the effect of what happened yesterday, I believe that reason in time, perhaps on Thursday, will prevail.”

He added: “I believe the Americans have come to realise that they have a responsibility to the rest of the world as well as themselves, and in Britain we will do whatever is necessary, however it is necessary.”

Mr Brown said that the country would get through the crisis. “This is the time to roll up our sleeves,” he said. “I have a great deal of confidence in the energy and initiative in the British people. I’m confident about the future of Britain. We have done what is necessary. We will continue to take decisive action. Nobody should be in any doubt that we will do whatever it takes.”

Mr Cameron, in an emergency speech to his conference, promised co-operation: “Let us not allow the political wrangling that took place in America to happen here in our own country. I and this party stand ready to help in whatever way is necessary to help the Government to do the right thing for the sake of our economy and for our future financial security.

“We should always be ready — we have always been ready — at a time of national difficulty to put aside party differences to help bring stability and help bring reassurance.”

The Conservatives supported Mr Brown’s insistence that he would not match the Irish Government’s move on bank deposits. The Prime Minister said that the Government had protected savings with Northern Rock, HBOS and Bradford & Bingley.

The Irish Government has made an emergency decision to guarantee for two years the safety of all deposits in six of its main savings institutions.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, called for a similar “copperbottomed” guarantee for British bank customers.

Mr Brown confirmed yesterday that plans for a £50,000 savings guarantee, first set out in a consultation document released in July, would be made law soon. “It’s in the banking Bill and it will go through very quickly and I hope it will go through with all-party support,” he said.

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