In recent weeks the line "exceptional times that required exceptional measures" has been delivered by his boss Gordon Brown. By Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission. And by the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King.
It's a well-known phrase and the variations are plentiful. As well as exceptional, times are often desperate, drastic or extreme, and can require action as well as measures. We all get the drift, but where does the phrase come from?
It was most famously used about the same time by a man who was not a fan of politicians - Guy Fawkes. He tried to wipe out King James I and his entire government by blowing up the Houses of Parliament.
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