The United Kingdom and Spain raced to buttress their banking systems after European policy makers failed to form a united front to combat the deepening financial crisis.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has prepared a package that included injecting capital into struggling banks. While Spain will spend as much as 50 billion euros to buy bank assets, the first move by a European nation to copy the US strategy.

The measures are biggest in a series of go-it-alone initiatives by national governments after European Union leaders proved unable to develop a plan acceptable to all its 27 nations. With European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet powerless under legal limits to intervene, more governments may pursue a unilateral approach.