Atlantic Council

Sure as eggs is eggs, the arrival of a new American president heralds fresh fretting in the British press over the precise state of the so-called "Special Relationship".

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced plans for a $88 (£50) billion bailout rescue package for the ailing U.K. economy. It is "designed to put the British banking system on a sounder footing" the Prime Minister told correspondents. However the London Stock Exchange fell 4 percent as news of the deal came through.

The BBC understands that the deal will require banks to adhere to FSA financial rules and increase their capital by $45 billion, perhaps by borrowing. $352 billion will be made available for short-term loans by the Bank of England. The financial crisis was caused in part by the banks' unwillingness to lend to each other, so the government hopes that if those loans can be guaranteed then lending will resume.

The lenders that have confirmed they will take part in aspects of the scheme are Abbey, Barclays, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide Building Society, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered. BBC business editor Robert Peston said there would be strings attached for banks that take the government money, including regulations on executive pay and the extension of credit lines to homeowners.

The deal has been welcomed by the banks.

Passenger and freight traffic has resumed through the tunnel under the English Channel, two days after a fire suspended service, AP reports.  Eurostar passenger service is still limited and slower than usual, however.

The blaze broke out Thursday afternoon and was not extinguished until Friday afternoon.  The cause of the fire is still under investigation, although it is believed to have been accidental.  In any case, it demonstrated the vulnerability of a vital piece of the only land link between England and the Continent.

 A "growing cohort of legislators in the ruling Labour Party" is calling upon Prime Minister Gordon Brown to support a windfall profix tax on energy companies to subsidize fuel for the poor, Mark Rice-Oxley reports for The Christian Science Monitor.  While "at least 80" MPs have signed a petition, the measure remains highly controverial: "Critics say it's a subversion of the very idea of a capitalist market system and point out that no other industry is punished this way. Nor, they say, is Big Oil bailed out when oil prices tumble."