Brown gives £5m tax concession to Band Aid

The Treasury has given the Band Aid charity a £5m boost by promising to refund the VAT on a DVD of the 1985 Live Aid concert and a new CD of the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?".

The Treasury has given the Band Aid charity a £5m boost by promising to refund the VAT on a DVD of the 1985 Live Aid concert and a new CD of the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?".

Gordon Brown said the Government would ensure that every penny from sales of the DVD and CD would go to the Band Aid Trust to support its work in the poorest countries of Africa.

Twenty years ago, Sir Bob Geldof fought a long campaign to prevent the Treasury keeping the VAT receipts from Band Aid's original Christmas number one record. Eventually, Tory ministers agreed to make a donation worth the same amount to charities working in Ethiopia and Chad. Mr Brown headed off similar demands byoffering to refund the VAT on the two new releases. With sales of more than 500,000 DVDs and one million CDs expected, the move is worth an estimated £5m, and will be higher if they sell more.

Sir Bob praised the Chancellor for what he called a "remarkable gesture". He said: "It will be a hugely significant sum of money that will help alleviate the misery of the hungry in Africa."

The Government has promised to make Africa a key priority when it takes over the presidency of the G8 leading industrial nations in January.