One year ago, Gordon Brown was being hailed by many as the saviour of the world's banking system. On October 14 2008 Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary of the time, announced a rescue plan for America's stricken banks. Germany, Italy, France and Spain had just done the same. All the initiatives had something in common: they looked very similar to the move announced a week earlier by the British prime minister.

In the intervening 12 months Mr Brown has staggered from one domestic problem to another; opinion polls suggest he could be out of office by next summer. It is a far cry from the mood a year ago when he was hailed as "a superhero" or "Flash Gordon".