The credit crunch in the United Kingdom - how long?

I don't want to be negative but previous credit crunches in the United Kingdom have coincided with recessions. They seem to go together like ham and eggs and I can't
see British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and UK Chancellor Alistair Darling managing to persuade the banks to resume lending. I would assume the credit crunch to last
for the whole of 2008 while the housing market is already suffering from a lack of buyers. Some areas such as London are going up but others such as the West Midlands
are going down.
I think Brown and Darling should cut stamp duty rates to help pep up the housing market, a market, which is being dampened by the slimming down of Northern Rock.
www.searchifa.co.uk. In some respects the
housing market could just freeze up if vendors do not decide to lower prices. There would be just a Mexican stand-off.