By Christina Fincher
LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mervyn King sounded unapologetic on Wednesday even as the Bank made its biggest revision to its economic forecasts since it was made independent in 1997.
Although one of the Bank's own policymakers, David Blanchflower, predicted Britain would fall into recession as far back as the spring, King said the events of the past few months could not have been predicted.
"It is always possible to set policy with the benefit of hindsight," King told a news conference.
"There's no way in which the committee can always have perfect foresight. What it has to do is always each and every month look at the balance of risks."
In August, King suggested inflation risks were to the upside and Britain's economy would probably avoid a recession. On Wednesday, he admitted the economy had probably already tipped into recession and inflation could collapse to less than half its target rate.
Even deflation, the scenario of falling prices reinforcing the downward spiral, could not be ruled out.
"Have you not been caught with your pants down?," asked one journalist.
Other journalists were more polite but the criticism was the same: if the Bank had seen the recession coming, it should have cut interest rates sooner.
"The world has changed," was King's most popular refrain as he stressed the Bank had already slashed interest rates and stood ready to do so again.
Last week's 150 basis point cut in interest rates -- three times the size predicted by most economists -- took rates to 3 percent, their lowest level since the 1950s. (Reporting by Christina Fincher and Fiona Shaikh, Editing by Andy Bruce)