Writing in the Wall Street Journal last week Prime Minister Gordon Brown outlined his proposal for ‘Enlarging the Anglosphere’ between Britain and USA in a variety of ways that will include a joint philanthropy convention and future discussions on how rules governing donations to charities can help UK and US charities work more closely together.

Referring to the spirit of Andrew Carnegie, Mr Brown proposed British and U.S. charities coming together “to discuss projects where working in common we can make a difference”.

He wrote that the Hunter Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York have agreed to host a convention of US and UK philanthropic charitable organisations, and that participants will include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In an effort to make registering a charity in Britain and qualifying for tax benefits much clearer, he stated that “regulators on both sides of the Atlantic will discuss how rules governing donations to charities can help UK and US charities work more closely together”.

He also referred to a British Council initiative, Transatlantic 2020, launched last month, to bring together young leaders from America, the UK and Europe, as well as Britain's "V" organization – which harnesses the energies of young people in community service. Through these initiatives Mr Brown said the two nations “will build on their links with similar programs in America to explore ways in which our young people can volunteer in each other's countries”.