VAT Waiver for Charity Record

Gordon Brown unveiled a fresh boost for the tsunami disaster appeal last night by pledging to donate VAT revenues from the planned charity record and concert in aid of survivors.

As ministers warned the army of amateur volunteers who have travelled to the stricken region that they could be getting in the way, the Chancellor made clear the Treasury would not seek to profit from fundraising, a gesture which could be worth millions to the fund. He offered a similar waiver to the Band Aid record 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'

Sharon Osbourne, wife of the rocker Ozzy Osbourne, has begun bringing together stars including Rod Stewart for a version of Eric Clapton's 'Tears from Heaven' to raise money for the tsunami victims, while the BBC is organising a Live Aid-style concert to be held in Wales.

'There is a proposal for a record and a proposal for a national concert brought together by the Disaster Emergency Committee, and if those two events were happening, then I can assure you that the Treasury would be very willing to make sure that we have no benefit from those two events,' Brown told The Observer. 'We would do what we have done for Band Aid.'

The Government is becoming increasingly concerned that the number of volunteers travelling to tsunami-affected areas could be hampering relief efforts.

Fiona Mactaggart, the Charities Minister, said that, while extraordinary work was being done by many, only highly skilled relief workers were needed at present. Volunteer efforts in the future would have to be 'appropriately planned', she said, 'otherwise what can happen is that people of goodwill can arrive and feel very frustrated because there aren't things they can sensibly do. They're using up water resources and things like that, that probably need to be focused more on the victims.'

The move came as it emerged that the Disaster Emergency Committee has been left with more money than it can immediately spend on emergency relief thanks to the huge public response. It is now planning to suspend normal rules for emergency appeals which state that 80 per cent of the money should be spent within nine months. The details will be thrashed out at a meeting on Tuesday, but it is likely the donations will be split in half, with the first chunk to be spent on emergency relief within the first year and the rest spent over the ensuing two years on more long-term projects.

'It became clear when the response was so phenomenal that they would have to alter the rules,' said a spokesman for Christian Aid. 'It would have been impossible to do the job well within the existing time constraints. We can only hope that finally, for once, there has been enough money pledged to follow through effectively.'

Tony Blair is expected to outline more details of a British package of long-term aid in a statement to the House of Commons tomorrow. With the first of the Government's £50 million emergency relief beginning to reach the victims, attention is now shifting to the future.

'We have now got to be looking towards the medium-term reconstruction need, and we have got to get the balance between the two now that the aid process is really under way,' said a senior Downing Street source. 'It is now about the logistics of converting that money into aid and support.'

The Blair family also made a personal donation to the tsunami appeal while still on holiday in Egypt, although Downing Street has refused to confirm the amount.