Caution on the economy

Worrying numbers rather than healthy cereals were being crunched when Gordon Brown breakfasted with Britain's leading bankers yesterday. Inflation may have stayed steady at 2.5% last month but gloomy figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors confirm that house prices in many parts of Britain are already falling. Scotland appears to be bucking that trend, but only just, with both new buyers and potential sellers sharply down. And with thousands of homeowners nearing the end of fixed-rate mortgage deals, the outlook is bleak.