The multibillion-pound package of support for small business that Alistair Darling, the chancellor, will unveil on Monday will be a mix of initiatives on bank lending, insurance and tax breaks. The motivation is simple: the credit drought is causing serious damage.

In theory, Gordon Brown solved the crisis in October with the £400bn bail-out. Ministers have laboured to convince banks to restart lending to businesses, stop axing overdrafts and loans and cease raising credit costs unilaterally for seemingly healthy companies.