The monetary policy committee he chairs was slow to react as the economy hurtled towards recession.

It preferred to do nothing and even contemplated further rises in interest rates when the opposite course was necessary.

So for Mr King to signal his conversion to the cause of radical action is likely to be interpreted as a sign of just how desperate Britain’s economic malaise has become.

Coming on the day that disastrous new unemployment figures were unveiled, the Governor’s observation that “we probably are in recession now” ranks as a significant understatement.

His readiness to do “whatever is necessary” to avert a disastrous depression is welcome. But how much better it would have been had he not become obsessed with the inflationary impact of a short-term surge in commodity prices.

Even he now admits that inflation is likely to plunge way below its two per cent target rate early next year.

The supposed point of the MPC is to engineer stable growth during an economic upswing and a soft landing at the end of it.

Judged on such criteria and even acknowledging the damage caused by Gordon Brown’s unsustainable public borrowing, the Bank’s performance has been lamentable.

Mr King’s sudden transformation from hesitant Mole into daring Mr Toad does not constitute the fresh start that British monetary policy requires.

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