National Economic Council to hold its first meeting.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown's National Economic Council, a group of 17 ministers convened to tackle to economic crisis, is to hold its first meeting today.
The Chancellor Alistair Darling is also set to make a statement to the House of Commons, as MPs return to Westminster after their summer vacation.
The British government was coming under increasing pressure to guarantee all retail bank deposits this weekend. It is seeking clarification from Germany, which has appeared to offer such a guarantee, following the example of Ireland and Greece. The reverberations of the credit crunch continued to be felt across Europe, with Germany's finance ministry announcing at EUR 50bn plan to save Hypo Real Estate, one of the country's biggest banks.
