On the BBC site, I came across this blog which I think puts a complex issue across in simple, if worrying, terms:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2008/10/the_5000bn_bailout.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2008/10/the_5000bn_bailout.html