Brown plans Wall St charm offensive

The Prime Minister will be grilled by Wall Street figures at an event in New York, before meeting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

The talks come on the second leg of his tour to lay the groundwork for next week's crucial G20 summit in London.

Mr Brown used Tuesday's speech to MEPs in Strasbourg to exhort the European Union to take the lead in rehabilitating the world economy and forging a new "moral" capitalism. He called for an end to offshore tax havens, tougher financial regulation, and international limits on remuneration.

But his message risked being overshadowed by a warning from Bank of England Governor Mervyn King that Britain may not be able to afford further fiscal stimulus measures.

Mr King told the Treasury Select Committee that the UK's deficit levels were already "very large".

"I think the fiscal position in the UK is not one where we could say, 'well, why don't we just engage in another significant round of fiscal expansion'," he added.

The remarks were seen as embarrassing to Mr Brown, who has successfully pressed the case for wealthy countries to bring forward significant fiscal stimulus packages to refloat the economy. Britain has introduced a temporary VAT cut, among other steps.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne insisted: "The governor is sending a very clear warning that this country cannot borrow its way out of debt. We are already heavily indebted and plans for a second stimulus package, which Gordon Brown has been talking up, should not go ahead."

Downing Street insisted decisions on spending measures would be announced by the Chancellor in his Budget next month.