A Parliamentary inquiry into the performance of the Bank of England during the financial crisis should be ordered immediately, MPs said last night, after the Bank's Governor Sir Mervyn King made the surprise statement that he would be happy to co-operate with such a probe.

'Vested interests' are trying to kill reforms, warns Governor of the Bank of England

What does it take to make it on to a bank note? Besides being the Queen, one has to do something special to get on to one (like George Best's Ulster Bank fiver).

One of the finest minds in the world has spent the past year in London, barely noticed by a media class that (like your correspondent) is fond of bemoaning a decline in standards. Yet though his tenure as Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at the London School of Economics is coming to an end, the impact that Ramachandra Guha has had on those lucky enough to share a hall with him has been profound.

Economic Outlook: For the umpteenth time the Bank is forecasting rapid recovery

Inventing money to chuck at banks in the vague hope that they'll do the right thing with it is over, Sir Mervyn King seemed to signal yesterday. The Bank of England is a mere £325bn into its quantitative easing experiment and hopefully that will be the end of it.

The Bank of England Governor yesterday said that people should not be "overly concerned" by the threat by Moody's to strip Britain of its top notch credit rating. "I don't see a reason to ignore or get overly concerned about it just because it's a rating agency," said Sir Mervyn King.

The UK economy will "zig-zag" in and out of growth this year but is heading in the right direction, Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King said today.

The Bank of England gained crucial ground in its battle to tame the soaring cost of living yesterday as inflation fell in January to its lowest level for more than a year.

The rate of inflation fell to a 14-month low last month and is expected to hit the Government's 2% target by the end of the year in a further sign that the crippling consumer spending squeeze is loosening its grip.

George Osborne is set to come down on the side of Sir Mervyn King in the increasingly bitter battle between the Bank of England Governor and the Treasury Select Committee over how the Bank ought to be supervised.

Chancellor to support supervision plan as powers over mortgage market are transferred

Sir Mervyn King is becoming quite the radical. The Bank of England Governor used a hearing at the Treasury Select Committee yesterday to fire yet another broadside at the banks and their addiction to six and seven-figure bonuses. It is pushing it a bit to call him "Red Merv", but behind the glass and steel of their luxurious headquarters, the banks' "masters of the universe" might agree with the description given his rhetoric. Before, that is, they get on with the business of ignoring him. The risk of reputational damage from paying bumper awards to management and other favoured staff while the rest of the country suffers – highlighted by Sir Mervyn – isn't something that worries them overly much.