Fire up the printing presses... (update)

Further to my earlier post about the Labour government wanting to end the requirement on the Bank of England to produce weekly figures on banknote production (amongst other matters), I now learn that the Bank of England is rumoured to "working on radical plans to inject cash directly into the economy as a last resort to reverse a slide into recession.
The Daily Telegraph said the Bank was

"working on radical plans to inject cash directly into the economy -- the nuclear option to be used only when interest rates approach zero."

The report said the Bank was considering engaging in "quantitative easing" -- printing more money to reflate the economy.

"Measures under consideration include direct purchases of assets, such as government debt or commercial investments, by the Bank or the Treasury, as well as expanding the Bank's balance sheet, a means of pumping extra cash into the banking sector," the newspaper said. The report said the proposals could be put into action within weeks.

Added weight was given to the proposals by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who seemed to hint in the press conference to announce the ECB's 75 basis point rate cut yesterday that it may also consider "nuclear options". "We will look at what is necessary at any period of time," he said. "If new decisions are needed, we will take new decisions.""

Is this Labour government really considering this option, have they have heard of hyper-inflation, do they even care? I have a really bad feeling about this policy, with massive inflation on the way as this most inept government screw up the economy even further in their last year or so of power as they seem to pursue scorched-earth policy.