Help at hand for motorists and businesses

HELP for hard-pressed motorists and businesses in Scotland could come soon, First Minister Alex Salmond claimed yesterday.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg gave assurances to ministers of the devolved Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish parliaments at a "lively and heated" meeting yesterday when they presented him with joint demands on fuel, business support and extra money for one-off capital projects.

Afterwards Mr Salmond said he was optimistic progress could be made on helping businesses by getting the banks to lend more and that there would be help for motorists either in the budget or through a fuel price stabiliser.