THOSE whose memories stretch to the era before instant communication by mobile phone, computers and satellite link will recall the once-familiar scenes on grainy, black and white newsreel film of messengers, some in top hats, spilling down the steps of the Bank of England on days when a change in lending rates was announced and of them dashing to the giant financial institutions in the City with the news and so bringing its impact to the pockets and purses of all the rest of us.

It was ever the case, it seemed, that on days when the so-called Bank Rate went down, the runner working for the mortgage lenders was the slowest of the lot.

It took him - and the cut in the borrowers' bill - an age to arrive.

But, when it went up, the swiftest of all ran with the change to the building societies' headquarters who promptly passed it on to the house-buyers without delay.

Yet, though the new rate may now be announced at the press of a button, it seems impossible to increase the resolutely leaden pace at which any reduction in interest charges arrives at the family budget in the form of mortgage cuts - instead of e-mail it appears they still use pigeon post.

At long last, however, the government is responding to the exasperation of borrowers that mortgages are just another aspect of the so-called "rip-off Britain" in which people are made to pay over the odds for so much. For Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers was announcing to delegates at the Labour Party conference that he will hold a "summit" at which the big banks and building societies will hear his concern about the way they treat borrowers and over repeated cuts in interest rates not being followed by reductions in High Street loan rates.

And, we are told, the government is also concerned about the "mis-selling" of unsuitable mortgages to unwary home-buyers by commission-seeking lenders.

It will, of course, not be the first time that bank chiefs have been called to a ministerial office for a sermon of this sort.

It is the fact that another is now deemed necessary which may make borrowers look askance at the notion of the government having real power to curb the greed of the financial institutions.

And as for mis-selling of mortgages, victims must pray that any government action on this front is swifter and more potent than that over the mis-selling of pension schemes, many victims of which are still not properly compensated years after they were first misled.

Let this crackdown pledged by Mr Byers be real and tough and not just a goodie designed to please conference delegates.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.