Backwardation in £ futures suggest 1st Qtr '08 reduction but not until then. Maybe the BofE will wait until preliminary figures for retail sales emerge for Christmas and if there is blood on the carpet, act. The BofE consistently overstates the risk of inflation and if fear of stoking further house price inflation were not an issue UK rates should be comparable to EU.

Michael, Lincoln, UK

These people who are talking about raising interest rates even more - are they mad or just completely heartless? What do they want to happen to the normal people who have a normal job and mortgage? its so expensive to live at the moment and they want to make it even worse. Yeah, its alright if you're old live mortgage free and have savings or if you're loaded but what about the tens/hundred of thousands of people who are young, don't have savings (because its not possible to save any money) but have bought a house on a hefty mortgage and the rate increases make it harder and harder to live. To have anymore rate rises would be absolutely crippling, they have to come down so people can actually start to live without constantly worrying about money.

Mike, Bournemouth,

The BoE is quite right to try to keep inflation down, especially while the government is busy printing money as fast as it can. High inflation is a disaster for any society and is definitively not the way to get out of a housing crisis coupled with excessive debt. A bit more honesty about the true rate of inflation, though it would hand the public sector unions a nice negotiating present, would be ideal. Anyone shopping on a daily basis can see that the rate is not 1.8% and and the ONS is doing itself no favours by choosing baskets that result in politically-skewed low outcomes.

Colin, Shrewsbury,

The BOE must keep inflation low. If it were to lower the rate to further ease the money supply, inflation will take off, the pound will devalue and anyone with sense will move their UK holdings to foreign securities and assets. This will further weaken the pound and cause a 'Black Wedneday' type situation.
Nowithstanding 9/11 attacks and the internet bubble, there can be no excuse for our leaders to have allowed this spending binge to carry on for so long. Simply put, the Labour Government has lead us to a record balance of payments deficit, record public debt, record private debt and is now 'between a rock and a hard place'. Gordon Brown must realise that it is 'check mate' and ought to resign and allow urgent action to put our economy back on a more sustainable course. I would not be surprised to see a reintroduction of exhange controls and tighter regulated consumer credit.

Steve Marchant, Torquay, Devon

Look at the oil price, inflation in China etc.
Inflation is probably set to rise, a cut now will merely keep the bubble going longer and make a bigger bang in two years time!
Rate cuts were made without regard to the housing market, so it should not influence rate rises.

Chris, Portsmouth,

I I I I ... Don't believe it!

And that won't be inflationary will it?

Does Prime Minister (Crash) Gordon Brown Unelect really want to have to go back to the IMF in 18 months time?

Oh dear oh dear oh dear....

Pete Balchin, Solicitor , Bristol, UK

They cant lower the rates, the reason being, it would be a total disaster for sterling and a return to the irresponsible lending and if you think that the inflation rate is really 1.8%, you are seriously living in a bubble. They need to jack the rates up in my opinion to stem it.

Laurance Allen, Bodrum, Turkey

if the BOE were to cut interest rates every time there was the tiniest worbble in the financial markets, they would soon become a discredited force as an inflation-fighting central bank. The role of the central bank is to maintain sound money, first and foremost. OK, so Northern Rock slipped up because of the nature of their business model (excessive reliance on capital markets for funding), but the contagion does not appear to have spread to other banks or even other sectors of the economy. The bank is quite right to hold rates; as of right now, the case for any kind of rate cut is absolutely not made.

gavin walsh, london,

The problem was caused by lowering interest rates in the first place! There was, and remains, too much credit in the system. You can't avoid inflation by injecting even more money into it. As to the people that paid too much for their homes - let them suffer.

Chris, London,

Yes, print more money! That's the solution! Avoid a crash at all costs by sending signals to people that risks don't matter and savings are pointless! Spend spend spend, and rack up the debts - after all, sterling will be worth half as much in five years as it is now, so buy ten grand's worth of stuff now, secure in the knowledge that the debt will be socialised and savers will pick up half the tab. Who needs savers anyway? All they do is put into society far more than they take out.

And stuff all foreign holders of sterling as well. Caveat emptor! Hee hee! (Pulls lever of fifty pound note printing press.)

Dave, Vancouver, Canada

The Bank of England did not give the small rate increases time to adjust the economy. It takes longer than a month for the effect to be felt,the bank should have acted far more cautiously, and seen the outcome of their rises,it seems a bit stupid and very negative ,the results you see now. One can not have a society where it says okay, businesses that have borrowed too much or are not big enough to absorb £10,000,000 reduction in profits will be allowed to go bust, or sorry chaps but your mortgage is too big you will loose your house.Nor can a society that does not really tackle the vastly overexpensive property problem,We could build incredibly cheap timber houses that would last a lifetime,and not have to have all our time spent on working to pay a mortgage.It does not seem that anyone really wants to get to grips with the problem, because no one has.

michael, truro, UK

I would think it prudent to cut rates ASAP rather than wait for further damage to occur. Surely prevention is better than cure? Maybe if the BofE had been more proactive a few months ago the 'crunch' may have just been a 'squeeze'.

Steve, Glos, UK

The problem in the first place was caused by rising interest rates as the B of E was too busy trying to keep inflation down. In a democratic society they should have been trying to help the public first and foremost, not the corporations. What on earth are they waiting for now? The US, for all it's faults, quickly took action to reduce rates a little - to ease the plight of borrowers as much as anything. We need the return of confidence to the financial system, and any talk of falls in any market, which is pure speculation anyway, should not be mentioned (even by the IMF) as it can only alarm the public and become self-perpetuating. Far better they report on opportunities for profit if they want to say anything useful.

france scicluna, Bromley, Kent