US President George W. Bush gave Brown a present of a fur-trimmed leather bomber1

It is an unlikely gift to give a man seldom seen out of a suit.

Perhaps the giver, George Bush, was stuck for ideas, and tried to think of something he'd like to find in his stocking on Christmas morning.

Or, more likely, he's trying a bit of subtle American humour on the recipient², Gordon Brown.

US President George W. Bush gave Brown a present of a fur-trimmed leather bomber -- or aviator³ -- jacket when the prime minister visited him at his Camp David retreat, north of Washington.

The brown jacket has a name tag with the prime minister's official title -- "Rt Hon (Right Honourable) Gordon Brown" -- on the left breast and a Camp David badge with the presidential seal on the other.

The gift, in a large, gold-papered box, was left in full view in Brown's chartered British Airways⁴ Boeing 767 jet as it returned to London on July 31.

Brown's first meeting as prime minister with Bush was a far cry from the get-together⁵ between Mr. Bush and Tony Blair in 2001, at which the President wore his own bomber jacket and Mr. Blair a pair of very tight purple cords.

And the contrast was apparently⁶ deliberate-Downing Street is said to believe the 2001 meeting set the tone for a relationship that made it difficult for Mr. Blair to speak candidly⁷ to Mr. Bush.

In any case, the new Prime Minister rarely goes out in public in anything but a jacket and tie.

The value of the jacket from President Bush is likely to exceed the ￡140 limit on ministerial gifts, which means Mr Brown must decide whether to buy it.

Although Brown reaffirmed the "special relationship" between the two countries and continued support for the fight against global extremism, he did not give a gung-ho impression of wanting to be Bush's "wing man".