King: Crisis could be worst ever

The UK could be facing "the most serious financial crisis" ever seen, the governor of the Bank of England has warned after unveiling a surprise move to pump £75 billion into the ailing economy.

Sir Mervyn King's stark comments last night that the economic crisis could be worse than the Depression of the 1930s came after the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to boost its quantitative easing (QE) programme - effectively printing more cash - from £200 billion to £275 billion and hold interest rates at 0.5%.