The daily news is getting worse for Mr. Brown; the figures on the economy are just not going in the right direction. And, with a General Election less than two years away it’s difficult to see how he turns around his political fortunes.

The latest news comes from the Nationwide who have said that there is evidence that the slide in the housing market is deepening as the Nationwide building society reported that prices were falling at their fastest annual rate in almost 18 years.

The Nationwide, the UK’s largest building society, said house prices falls were now reaching double digit levels and falling at a rate not seen since the fourth quarter of 1990. In its latest monthly assessment of the market the society said the price of a typical house had fallen by 10.5 per cent over the last 12 months to £164,654.

The monthly drop in house prices accelerated to 1.9 per cent in August, Nationwide said. The society reckoned that prices fell by 1.5 per cent the previous month.

With house prices having fallen steadily since last October, according to the lender, it means that the housing market has been in steady decline for almost a year.

Today’s figures from Nationwide, traditionally among the least conservative of house price monitors, comes after Halifax, a rival, said house prices fell 1.7 per cent in July and at an annual rate of 8.8 per cent.