Tony Blair is to head a new, British-inspired investigation into the causes of Africa's abject poverty as he seeks to give the government a fresh sense of purpose following the publication of the Hutton report.
The prime minister will pull rank on Gordon Brown by announcing that he will personally chair a follow-up to the 1980 Brandt report, which examined the widening gulf globally between rich and poor.
Mr Blair has responded to a personal appeal from rock singer Bob Geldof, who has made the alleviation of Africa's plight his personal crusade.
The commission will be made up of politicians, aid agencies and representatives of the private sector and Mr Brown will chair the economic side of the group's work, which will include aid, trade, international finance and the integration of poor countries into the global economy.
"The prime minister can blame Mr Brown if the proposals get torpedoed and take the credit if it works," said one development lobbyist.
The original Brandt report was published just as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher swept into power in the United States and the UK, ushering in a decade of right-wing policies which saw western aid budgets slashed.
The report, seen by aid agencies as the classic expression of social democratic values, argued it was dangerous for the entire world to let a large group of countries fall massively behind their rich counterparts.
Last night, Whitehall souces said a name for the report had not been decided upon. One option was Brandt Two, although it is thought the prime minister's desire for a lasting political legacy will result in it being called the Blair report.
Bill Gates, the billionaire chairman of Microsoft, was one of the people canvassed in a 100-strong list of possible commissioners, although it is thought he has declined. Nelson Mandela was one of the candidates to lead the new commission, but the prime minister feels that the job requires an active politician who carries international clout with the west's richest nations.
Aid agencies in the UK are now lobbying furiously to secure places on the commission, which will report back in time for Britain's presidency of the G8 industrialised nations' body in 2005. Mr Brown has been pressing hard for Mr Blair to turn the G8 presidency, which also coincides with Britain chairing the European Union, into a platform for meeting United Nations goals for tackling global poverty.
The prime minister has taken a personal interest in Africa, urging that attempts by poor countries to root out corruption and improve governance should be rewarded by western governments boosting their aid budgets.
Mr Geldof believes that nearly a quarter of a century on from the Brandt report, its conclusions about the dangers to global stability from a world polarised between rich and poor are even more pressing. The former lead singer of the Boomtown Rats is calling for a Marshall plan for Africa, harking back to the post-war reconstruction effort for Europe funded by the US.
The proposal has found favour with the chancellor, who believes that without urgent action by the west there is no chance of meeting UN objectives that include halving the share of the world's population living on less than a dollar a day by 2015, reducing by two-thirds infant mortality and putting every child into a primary school classroom.
