With interest rates at historic lows, savers in Shropshire are seeing their income fall.
It is also clear that Gordon Brown's bank recapitalisation plan isn't working and may even need topping up.
The Prime Minister's recent slip of the tongue in claiming to have 'saved the world', looks increasingly hollow. For while he might have rescued the banks, the way he did it has compelled them to draw in their lending horns. So the billions spent rescuing the banks has not rescued the wider economy.
Without working capital from their banks, good firms will go out of business and people will lose their jobs.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders attacked Brown's policies towards the banks as 'conflicting and incoherent'. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury has questioned whether more spending and borrowing is the right way to combat recession.
But Government does need to keep funding for business going. Implementing our proposal for a £50bn National Loan Guarantee Scheme would be a Christmas present for business to provide a lifeline to help preserve many jobs in the New Year.
I hope you have a chance to put present economic woes out of mind during this holiday season. Why not keep an eye open for those in need of a helping hand this Christmas? A few minutes of your time can bring great pleasure to someone who might otherwise be alone this Christmas.
