Interest rates expected to remain 'on hold through 2013'

Sir Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, is expected to signal on Wednesday that interest rates will not rise from their record low until late 2013 at the earliest, as the UK's growth disappoints.

Nick Clegg: economic recovery will be a long hard road

There is a ''long, hard road ahead'' for the British economy, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will admit today as he closes the Liberal Democrat conference.

The International Monetary Fund's decision to downgrade the UK's growth forecasts has heightened fears of a double dip recession, and Mr Clegg will acknowledge the recovery is ''fragile''.