Darling urges banks to cut rates

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Mr Darling said a £15 billion Bank of England injection showed the Government had played its part and that lenders "have got to help people as well".

His plea for recent cuts in the base rate to be passed on to borrowers came after banking chiefs were summoned to Downing Street for high-level talks.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to discuss the present global turmoil with leading City figures on Tuesday morning, before departing for a visit to the US.

And then Mr Darling will meet representatives of the Council of Mortgage Lenders in a bid to agree measures to help calm the market.

The Chancellor, who has spent the weekend in New York agreeing new measures with fellow G7 finance ministers, told the BBC the industry had to contribute.

"We have been supporting the system: through the Bank of England an extra £15 billion has been put in to help them get through this difficult period," he said. "In turn, we want to ensure we can help businesses, we can help individuals and homeowners by helping reopen the mortgage market and making sure the benefits of the interest rate cuts the Bank of England has been able to put in place twice this year can be passed on.

"We know this is a difficult time. We've got to get through it and we can get through it. What we are saying is: we are helping the banks; the banks have got to help people as well."

The Bank of England cut the base rate last week for the third time since December, but experts have predicted the cost of borrowing will continue to rise.

Writing in the News of the World, the Prime Minister said Mr Darling would discuss "new measures to ensure those lower interest rates are passed on to mortgage holders".