Brown and Bush 'got on very well'

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The Chancellor - hot favourite to succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister this summer - said they discussed issues such as global trade during half an hour of informal talks.

Mr Brown said the "friendly" encounter not been planned, and Mr Bush just "happened to be available to come and see me" while he was visiting the White House.

"We had a general discussion, mainly about trade issues, and I don't think there's anything more to add than that," he told the BBC.

The meeting has been seen as the US administration tacitly endorsing Mr Brown as it prepares for life after Mr Blair's departure.

However, many on Labour's left will be unhappy at any signs that the Chancellor is developing a close relationship with a President who has become something of a totemic hate figure following the Iraq war.

Former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle told the Sunday Telegraph: "This is Bush's administration saying it can do business with Gordon, as it could with Tony Blair, and this worries me."

Mr Brown is in Washington for a series of meetings involving the G8 and the International Monetary Fund.