Interest changes in the UK and Ireland

The European Central Bank (ECB) cut its main lending rate by 50 basis points today as the euro zone economy slows.

The move takes the ECB's key interest rate to 3.25% and is the second cut in just under a month. ECB president Jean Claude Trichet urged the banks to pass on the rates cuts to consumers and businesses.

The bank of England earlier made a shock one-and-a-half percentage point cut in UK interest rates to 3%, the lowest level since 1955. It follows an emergency cut in rates last month from 5% to 4.5%.

It is hoped that while it is unlikely that the rates cuts will prevent the economy from falling into a recession it will boost consumer morale and provide relief to homeowners with tracker mortgages.

Gordon Brown urged "banks and building societies to pass on the interest rate cuts to their mortgage holders."