Fighting between rival Arab tribes in western Sudan's oil-rich Kordofan region killed almost 250 people over two days earlier this week, including 75 policemen, Sudan's interior minister said.
Tribal clashes over cattle grazing and water rights is common across Sudan, but the violence has grown worse over the years with the number of arms left over from the two-decade long civil war between the north and the south that ended in 2005.
The Messariah and Rezeigat tribes that clashed Tuesday and Wednesday straddle the border region between southern Kordofan and neighboring Darfur, where a separate conflict that has claimed 300,000 lives has raged for more than six years.
Interior Minister Hamed Ibrahim told the Cabinet on Thursday that in addition to the police, 169 tribesman were killed in the fighting, including 89 from the Messariah and 80 from the Rezeigat. Calm has now returned to the area, he was quoted as saying by the state news agency.
A previous round of fighting last year between the two tribes left over 70 from both sides dead, Messariah chief Babou Nimr Mukhtar told The Associated Press.
Mukhtar said fighting began Tuesday when 2,000 Rezeigat gunmen on horseback and in trucks attacked his tribe. Police were deployed to the area to prevent the fighting but were attacked by the Rezeigat, he said.
"Calm is restored. But there is no guarantee it will last," said Mukhtar. He stressed that tribal chiefs, not security forces, were the only ones who could end the rivalry.
Mukhtar said 109 people from his tribe were killed in the fighting, 20 more than the government indicated. The differences could not immediately be reconciled, and it was unclear if all the tribesman killed were gunmen.
These clashes are separate from the war in Darfur between mostly ethnic African rebels and government forces and allied Arab militias. Many fear the Darfur conflict could spill over into neighboring Kordofan, exacerbating already rising violence.
Separate tribal clashes in the country's south over the last three months claimed the lives of some 900 people, mostly women and children.
Hamid, the interior minister, said the government was investigating the cause of this week's fighting and would bring the instigators to trial.
Kouider Zerrouk, a spokesman for the U.N. in Sudan, called the clashes "very alarming" and said the organization was also investigating.
Fighting in southern Kordofan is particularly concerning because it is contains some of Sudan's largest oil resources and its borders are disputed by northern and southern officials in the government.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Space station finally has a full staff of 6
The International Space Station just had a population boom.
A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three new space station residents docked at the orbiting complex today. With three astronauts there to greet them, the space station now has a full staff of six for the first time in its 10-year history.
Also, each of the major space station partners is represented on board for the first time. The crew, all men, now is made up of two astronauts from Russia and one each from the U.S., Japan, Canada and Belgium.
"It is a historic day. It's also a very happy day up here," said newly arrived Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk. "We've got an incredible potential for success here. This is going to be something incredible. You ain't seen nothing yet."
Having all the countries represented on board is "a great way to kick off a six-person crew," NASA's deputy space station program manager, Kirk Shireman, said on the eve of the linkup.
When shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven arrives in another few weeks, a record 13 people will be at the space station, but that will be only temporary.
The Soyuz spacecraft blasted off from Kazakhstan on Wednesday and pulled in at the space station as the two vessels soared 217 miles above China. There were hugs and handshakes all around when the hatches between the two craft swung open. The six astronauts gathered in the main living quarters for the many congratulations that streamed upward.
"Finally, we've lived to see this moment," Russian Mission Control radioed.
NASA expects science research to triple at the space station. Until now, astronauts have had to spend most of their time keeping all the systems running and fixing things, like a urine-into-drinking-water machine that took months to coax into operation. Astronauts took their first sips of the recycled water in orbit last week.
There should be a mental bonus as well with a bigger crew.
Psychologists have long said three is not an ideal crew size because of the potential for one person to feel left out.
"Think about when you're 7 years old and you've got three kids," noted U.S. astronaut Timothy Kopra, who will arrive on Endeavour and then move in.
The first space station crew arrived in 2000, two years after the first portion was launched. Until now, no more than three people lived there at a time. The crew size dropped to two after the 2003 Columbia disaster because of the lengthy grounding of NASA's remaining space shuttles.
A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three new space station residents docked at the orbiting complex today. With three astronauts there to greet them, the space station now has a full staff of six for the first time in its 10-year history.
Also, each of the major space station partners is represented on board for the first time. The crew, all men, now is made up of two astronauts from Russia and one each from the U.S., Japan, Canada and Belgium.
"It is a historic day. It's also a very happy day up here," said newly arrived Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk. "We've got an incredible potential for success here. This is going to be something incredible. You ain't seen nothing yet."
Having all the countries represented on board is "a great way to kick off a six-person crew," NASA's deputy space station program manager, Kirk Shireman, said on the eve of the linkup.
When shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven arrives in another few weeks, a record 13 people will be at the space station, but that will be only temporary.
The Soyuz spacecraft blasted off from Kazakhstan on Wednesday and pulled in at the space station as the two vessels soared 217 miles above China. There were hugs and handshakes all around when the hatches between the two craft swung open. The six astronauts gathered in the main living quarters for the many congratulations that streamed upward.
"Finally, we've lived to see this moment," Russian Mission Control radioed.
NASA expects science research to triple at the space station. Until now, astronauts have had to spend most of their time keeping all the systems running and fixing things, like a urine-into-drinking-water machine that took months to coax into operation. Astronauts took their first sips of the recycled water in orbit last week.
There should be a mental bonus as well with a bigger crew.
Psychologists have long said three is not an ideal crew size because of the potential for one person to feel left out.
"Think about when you're 7 years old and you've got three kids," noted U.S. astronaut Timothy Kopra, who will arrive on Endeavour and then move in.
The first space station crew arrived in 2000, two years after the first portion was launched. Until now, no more than three people lived there at a time. The crew size dropped to two after the 2003 Columbia disaster because of the lengthy grounding of NASA's remaining space shuttles.
Tentative Deal for G.M.’s Opel Is Latest Shift for Industry
The global reordering of the auto industry continued Friday, as an unlikely alliance led by Magna, a Canadian auto parts maker, and Russia’s Sberbank tentatively agreed to buy the European operations of General Motors.
The deal was brokered by the German government in Berlin, with negotiations stretching from Moscow to Washington, Detroit, Ontario and New York, where G.M.’s board gathered for a meeting ahead of an expected bankruptcy filing on Monday.
With auto sales plunging to levels not seen in decades, auto companies are seeking refuge in mergers or bankruptcy court. Other companies, like Magna and Fiat, are seeing opportunities in beaten-down automakers, hoping to buy them or form alliances on the cheap.
The deal in Germany will have ripple effects in the United States.
Fiat had hoped to grow into a top-tier global company virtually overnight, with its nearly completed alliance with Chrysler and by buying G.M. of Europe.
Although stitching together established companies on different continents is challenging, Chrysler’s prospects might have improved as part of a larger company.
Now, with Fiat apparently losing out to Magna for G.M.’s European operations, prospects for Chrysler’s long-term future could darken.
By contrast, a deal for G.M.’s European operations could resolve an important issue for the beleaguered company and help speed its restructuring in bankruptcy court, which appears all but certain.
Some industry experts immediately panned the proposed Magna alliance with G.M. in Europe, saying the German government had picked the Magna deal over an offer by Fiat to safeguard nearly 25,000 jobs at home in an election year, while adding yet another player to an industry already burdened by chronic overcapacity.
“It solves nothing in terms of the industry’s structure,” said Philippe Houchois, an analyst with UBS in London. “It’ll be detrimental to the whole industry’s pricing ability, and nothing good will come out of this.”
Losing Opel to Magna is a blow to Sergio Marchionne, Fiat’s chief executive, who was initially favored to acquire Opel.
With his recent deal for 20 percent of Chrysler, without having to put any of Fiat’s money down, Mr. Marchionne had hoped Opel would deliver the kind of scale he believes is crucial for survival in the global auto industry.
Putting Fiat, Opel, and Chrysler under one roof would have created a company with the capacity to build nearly six million cars a year, which would have made it the second-largest global automaker after Toyota.
Instead, Fiat and Chrysler now face competition from a new player, Magna, while Mr. Marchionne and his team work to revive Chrysler’s battered fortunes.
A final deal would lift Magna, a Canadian-Austrian company whose specialty is making parts and assembling vehicles for other automakers, into the role of manufacturer. Under the terms of the deal, G.M. would retain a 35 percent stake in the new company, with Sberbank taking 35 percent, Magna holding 20 and Opel’s employees controlling the remaining 10 percent.
What finally put Magna over the top, according to one official briefed on the negotiations who declined to comment because the deal was still tentative, was Magna’s agreement to contribute one billion euros ($1.39 billion) to Opel in a mix of technology and cash.
The cash portion includes 300 million euros of bridge financing, in addition to the German government’s 1.5 billion euros in bridge financing.
G.M. surprised German officials on Thursday night when it disclosed that the additional 300 million euros were needed because Opel’s finances were deteriorating so quickly.
Magna and its Austrian-born chief executive, Frank Stronach, have long dreamed of joining the ranks of the automakers it now sells parts to. It is a major supplier of components to G.M., so the two companies already have a relationship, which observers said would help Opel as G.M. navigates its way through the expected bankruptcy process.
Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, said that if the Magna deal came through, it would “take some work to make it a sustainable business.”
Though Magna rose from machine shop to auto parts maker, the company, based in Aurora, Ontario, has deep experience in engineering and assembling cars, especially at its Austrian subsidiary, Magna Steyr, in Graz.
It assembles the BMW X3 there, a sport utility vehicle, and in 2012 it will begin assembling the Porsche Cayenne, also an S.U.V., and the Boxster convertible sports car.
With the 1.7 million vehicles a year produced by G.M.’s European operations, Magna will not be in the front ranks of the automotive world.
But Magna’s trump card could prove to be the Russian market, which could reach annual sales of five million vehicles by 2015, Mr. Dudenhöffer said. By cooperating with Gaz, the Russian automaker, Magna could sell up to 500,000 cars a year there, he said, and steadily increase volumes thereafter.
“The issue is not just scale — it is scale and smarts,” Mr. Dudenhöffer said. “With intelligent cooperation with others, Magna and Opel can do a lot.”
At first, Fiat’s abrupt exit from the negotiations was assumed to be a bluff on the part of Mr. Marchionne. But it looks to be a final departure for Fiat, which was surprised to learn earlier in the week that Opel will lose 2 billion to 3 billion euros this year, far more than the 1.5 billion euro loss analysts had anticipated, according to officials with knowledge of the negotiations who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Politics rather than finances may have been be the crucial factor ahead of an election later this year in Germany. German officials believe the Magna bid will mean fewer job losses than any deal with Fiat. G.M. Europe and Opel employ roughly 50,000 workers in Europe, about half of whom are in Germany.
On Friday, the European Commission convened a meeting of ministers to address concerns that the aggressive action by individual countries, like Germany, to protect local jobs, risks dividing the unified market of the 27-nation European Union along national lines.
In a statement following the meeting, the commission said, "All participants agreed that any financial support by one or more member states must be based strictly on objective and economic criteria, and not include non-commercial conditions concerning the location of investments and/or the geographic distribution of restructuring measures."
But the statement failed to satisfy critics who say action, rather words, is needed.
"We have always said there is not a level playing field," said Ivan Hodac, secretary-general of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. "The commission has to create a level playing field because the last thing we need is to get out of this crisis with a destroyed internal market."
The deal was brokered by the German government in Berlin, with negotiations stretching from Moscow to Washington, Detroit, Ontario and New York, where G.M.’s board gathered for a meeting ahead of an expected bankruptcy filing on Monday.
With auto sales plunging to levels not seen in decades, auto companies are seeking refuge in mergers or bankruptcy court. Other companies, like Magna and Fiat, are seeing opportunities in beaten-down automakers, hoping to buy them or form alliances on the cheap.
The deal in Germany will have ripple effects in the United States.
Fiat had hoped to grow into a top-tier global company virtually overnight, with its nearly completed alliance with Chrysler and by buying G.M. of Europe.
Although stitching together established companies on different continents is challenging, Chrysler’s prospects might have improved as part of a larger company.
Now, with Fiat apparently losing out to Magna for G.M.’s European operations, prospects for Chrysler’s long-term future could darken.
By contrast, a deal for G.M.’s European operations could resolve an important issue for the beleaguered company and help speed its restructuring in bankruptcy court, which appears all but certain.
Some industry experts immediately panned the proposed Magna alliance with G.M. in Europe, saying the German government had picked the Magna deal over an offer by Fiat to safeguard nearly 25,000 jobs at home in an election year, while adding yet another player to an industry already burdened by chronic overcapacity.
“It solves nothing in terms of the industry’s structure,” said Philippe Houchois, an analyst with UBS in London. “It’ll be detrimental to the whole industry’s pricing ability, and nothing good will come out of this.”
Losing Opel to Magna is a blow to Sergio Marchionne, Fiat’s chief executive, who was initially favored to acquire Opel.
With his recent deal for 20 percent of Chrysler, without having to put any of Fiat’s money down, Mr. Marchionne had hoped Opel would deliver the kind of scale he believes is crucial for survival in the global auto industry.
Putting Fiat, Opel, and Chrysler under one roof would have created a company with the capacity to build nearly six million cars a year, which would have made it the second-largest global automaker after Toyota.
Instead, Fiat and Chrysler now face competition from a new player, Magna, while Mr. Marchionne and his team work to revive Chrysler’s battered fortunes.
A final deal would lift Magna, a Canadian-Austrian company whose specialty is making parts and assembling vehicles for other automakers, into the role of manufacturer. Under the terms of the deal, G.M. would retain a 35 percent stake in the new company, with Sberbank taking 35 percent, Magna holding 20 and Opel’s employees controlling the remaining 10 percent.
What finally put Magna over the top, according to one official briefed on the negotiations who declined to comment because the deal was still tentative, was Magna’s agreement to contribute one billion euros ($1.39 billion) to Opel in a mix of technology and cash.
The cash portion includes 300 million euros of bridge financing, in addition to the German government’s 1.5 billion euros in bridge financing.
G.M. surprised German officials on Thursday night when it disclosed that the additional 300 million euros were needed because Opel’s finances were deteriorating so quickly.
Magna and its Austrian-born chief executive, Frank Stronach, have long dreamed of joining the ranks of the automakers it now sells parts to. It is a major supplier of components to G.M., so the two companies already have a relationship, which observers said would help Opel as G.M. navigates its way through the expected bankruptcy process.
Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, said that if the Magna deal came through, it would “take some work to make it a sustainable business.”
Though Magna rose from machine shop to auto parts maker, the company, based in Aurora, Ontario, has deep experience in engineering and assembling cars, especially at its Austrian subsidiary, Magna Steyr, in Graz.
It assembles the BMW X3 there, a sport utility vehicle, and in 2012 it will begin assembling the Porsche Cayenne, also an S.U.V., and the Boxster convertible sports car.
With the 1.7 million vehicles a year produced by G.M.’s European operations, Magna will not be in the front ranks of the automotive world.
But Magna’s trump card could prove to be the Russian market, which could reach annual sales of five million vehicles by 2015, Mr. Dudenhöffer said. By cooperating with Gaz, the Russian automaker, Magna could sell up to 500,000 cars a year there, he said, and steadily increase volumes thereafter.
“The issue is not just scale — it is scale and smarts,” Mr. Dudenhöffer said. “With intelligent cooperation with others, Magna and Opel can do a lot.”
At first, Fiat’s abrupt exit from the negotiations was assumed to be a bluff on the part of Mr. Marchionne. But it looks to be a final departure for Fiat, which was surprised to learn earlier in the week that Opel will lose 2 billion to 3 billion euros this year, far more than the 1.5 billion euro loss analysts had anticipated, according to officials with knowledge of the negotiations who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Politics rather than finances may have been be the crucial factor ahead of an election later this year in Germany. German officials believe the Magna bid will mean fewer job losses than any deal with Fiat. G.M. Europe and Opel employ roughly 50,000 workers in Europe, about half of whom are in Germany.
On Friday, the European Commission convened a meeting of ministers to address concerns that the aggressive action by individual countries, like Germany, to protect local jobs, risks dividing the unified market of the 27-nation European Union along national lines.
In a statement following the meeting, the commission said, "All participants agreed that any financial support by one or more member states must be based strictly on objective and economic criteria, and not include non-commercial conditions concerning the location of investments and/or the geographic distribution of restructuring measures."
But the statement failed to satisfy critics who say action, rather words, is needed.
"We have always said there is not a level playing field," said Ivan Hodac, secretary-general of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. "The commission has to create a level playing field because the last thing we need is to get out of this crisis with a destroyed internal market."
UN calls for inquiry on 'unacceptably high' civilian death toll in Sri Lanka
Some of the thousands of Tamil civilians interned behind barbed wire at the Menik Farms refugee camp in Sri Lanka. A UN official expressed concern that the camps were militarised and no-one was allowed in or out. Photograph: Gethin Chamberlain
A senior UN official said the civilian death toll from the Sri Lankan government's crushing of the Tamil Tiger insurgency was "unacceptably high" and should be the subject of an official inquiry.
Sir John Holmes, the head of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA), said many thousands of people had died in the final days of the government offensive, and accused the Sri Lankan army of using heavy weapons on a coastal strip that was supposed to have been a no-fire zone.
"When there are allegations of this kind, allegations on both sides, they need to be looked into, they need to be investigated," Holmes said. "We had hoped that the [UN] Human Rights Council would look into this, but as you know they took a different path."
On Wednesday, the council voted in Geneva to uphold a resolution put forward by the Sri Lankan government congratulating it on its military victory, sparking outrage from western countries.
One UN official, who did not wish to be named, noted that the council had approved an investigation into civilian deaths caused by the Israeli army offensive in Gaza at the beginning of the year.
"Gaza is a very good comparison. TV was there all the time. Sri Lanka could easily be 10 times worse but there were no cameras. The world wasn't there to see," the official said. The Colombo government restricted press access to the war zone throughout its offensive.
"There is no appetite for such an enquiry among some member states," Holmes said.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, has said she is still prepared to pursue an investigation of the alleged atrocities, but would require the approval of the Sri Lankan government – an unlikely event. The Tamil Tigers used suicide bombers and have been accused of using civilians as human shields.
Asked about a report in the Times claiming 20,000 civilians may have been killed in the final throes of the campaign, Holmes denied it was based on UN figures. "The truth is we simply don't know. It doesn't reflect any estimate we made for ourselves. We did have our own internal estimate until the end of April. After that, we didn't have anyone on the ground," the British diplomat said.
The UN estimated death toll to the end of April was 7,000, officials have said. The Times estimate was based on the assumption that a further 1,000 civilians had been killed on average each day until 19 May, when the Tamil Tiger leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was killed.
"We do know the death toll was unacceptably high," Holmes said. "There were several thousand dead, and there was an obligation of the government of Sri Lanka to use every possible restraint. There was a no-fire zone in which they said they were not using heavy weapons, and we believe they were."
On 19 May, the Guardian carried a report from one health worker who estimated that 15,000 people might have died in the last four months of fighting. Questions remain about what happened to the wounded who were in a makeshift hospital when medical staff fled. Neither the UN nor the Red Cross could account for them . Doctors working in the no-fire zone have been detained for allegedly exaggerating casualty numbers.
The Red Cross said yesterday it was still not being given access to the war zone, hindering efforts to pave the way for a return home for the estimated 300,000 people who fled the fighting.
Holmes, who visited the government-run refugee camp at Menik Farms at the weekend, said conditions there were "not brilliant but acceptable". He added: "Our bigger concern is the nature of the camps. They are militarised and people are not allowed in or out." The Sri Lankan government has said the camps will be handed over to civilian authority, but not when.
A senior UN official said the civilian death toll from the Sri Lankan government's crushing of the Tamil Tiger insurgency was "unacceptably high" and should be the subject of an official inquiry.
Sir John Holmes, the head of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA), said many thousands of people had died in the final days of the government offensive, and accused the Sri Lankan army of using heavy weapons on a coastal strip that was supposed to have been a no-fire zone.
"When there are allegations of this kind, allegations on both sides, they need to be looked into, they need to be investigated," Holmes said. "We had hoped that the [UN] Human Rights Council would look into this, but as you know they took a different path."
On Wednesday, the council voted in Geneva to uphold a resolution put forward by the Sri Lankan government congratulating it on its military victory, sparking outrage from western countries.
One UN official, who did not wish to be named, noted that the council had approved an investigation into civilian deaths caused by the Israeli army offensive in Gaza at the beginning of the year.
"Gaza is a very good comparison. TV was there all the time. Sri Lanka could easily be 10 times worse but there were no cameras. The world wasn't there to see," the official said. The Colombo government restricted press access to the war zone throughout its offensive.
"There is no appetite for such an enquiry among some member states," Holmes said.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, has said she is still prepared to pursue an investigation of the alleged atrocities, but would require the approval of the Sri Lankan government – an unlikely event. The Tamil Tigers used suicide bombers and have been accused of using civilians as human shields.
Asked about a report in the Times claiming 20,000 civilians may have been killed in the final throes of the campaign, Holmes denied it was based on UN figures. "The truth is we simply don't know. It doesn't reflect any estimate we made for ourselves. We did have our own internal estimate until the end of April. After that, we didn't have anyone on the ground," the British diplomat said.
The UN estimated death toll to the end of April was 7,000, officials have said. The Times estimate was based on the assumption that a further 1,000 civilians had been killed on average each day until 19 May, when the Tamil Tiger leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was killed.
"We do know the death toll was unacceptably high," Holmes said. "There were several thousand dead, and there was an obligation of the government of Sri Lanka to use every possible restraint. There was a no-fire zone in which they said they were not using heavy weapons, and we believe they were."
On 19 May, the Guardian carried a report from one health worker who estimated that 15,000 people might have died in the last four months of fighting. Questions remain about what happened to the wounded who were in a makeshift hospital when medical staff fled. Neither the UN nor the Red Cross could account for them . Doctors working in the no-fire zone have been detained for allegedly exaggerating casualty numbers.
The Red Cross said yesterday it was still not being given access to the war zone, hindering efforts to pave the way for a return home for the estimated 300,000 people who fled the fighting.
Holmes, who visited the government-run refugee camp at Menik Farms at the weekend, said conditions there were "not brilliant but acceptable". He added: "Our bigger concern is the nature of the camps. They are militarised and people are not allowed in or out." The Sri Lankan government has said the camps will be handed over to civilian authority, but not when.
Time for state to fund political parties, says James Purnell
Britain's leaders should "bite the bullet" and endorse state funding of political parties as part of an overhaul to remove "big money" from the system, the work and pensions secretary, James Purnell, declares today.
In the latest high-profile contribution to the Guardian's A New Politics series, the cabinet minister calls for individual donations to be capped at a few hundred pounds – a move that would transform Labour's links with the trade unions.
Making the first intervention by a member of the cabinet on the contentious issue of party funding, Purnell says: "We need to take big money out of politics." He writes: "Amidst the current anger at politicians and politics we must bite the bullet on state funding for political parties – alongside cutting the overall amount the taxpayer spends on politics."
Within a reduction in the overall amount spent, Purnell would like to see the state fund staff in constituencies and allow greater work on developing policy.
Capping donations would curb the power of the likes of Lord Ashcroft, the Tory deputy chairman, who is using his fortune to finance candidates in marginal seats. But it would also change – and critics will claim dilute – Labour's relationship with the unions. Purnell suggests the bulk of union donations could be made through the political levy paid by members, who would have to give consent. And tax relief of 100% should be provided on small donations to encourage parties to seek them in the way Barack Obama did in last year's US presidential election. "Such a system would pose questions for all political parties, including, for Labour, how we maintain our historic and vital link with the trade union movement," Purnell writes. "Labour would have an incentive to properly engage with the hundreds of thousands of individual trade unionists who are linked to our party."
"The Conservatives too would have to fundamentally reassess how they raise and spend resources ... this is an uncomfortable but urgent debate."
Purnell's opening of a new front comes as reform momentum continues to build. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman tells today's Guardian Weekend magazine she is "more positive than negative" about health secretary Alan Johnson's push for a referendum on electoral reform. Harman says the expenses scandal is a "moment to be seized" to reform politics.
Today Europe minister Caroline Flint comes out in supports of a "cross-party mechanism" to consider issues of constitutional reform that would involve the public. Flint's suggestion, in an article for the Progress website, is something Downing Street has been resisting, preferring justice secretary Jack Straw's call for cross-party talks between the leaders. Progress, the centre-left campaign group, is launching a drive for a "citizens' convention". Forty activists and candidates have signed a petition supporting the idea, including academic and former Labour MP David Marquand and former minister Stephen Twigg. The idea is also said to be gaining ground inside the cabinet.
In the latest high-profile contribution to the Guardian's A New Politics series, the cabinet minister calls for individual donations to be capped at a few hundred pounds – a move that would transform Labour's links with the trade unions.
Making the first intervention by a member of the cabinet on the contentious issue of party funding, Purnell says: "We need to take big money out of politics." He writes: "Amidst the current anger at politicians and politics we must bite the bullet on state funding for political parties – alongside cutting the overall amount the taxpayer spends on politics."
Within a reduction in the overall amount spent, Purnell would like to see the state fund staff in constituencies and allow greater work on developing policy.
Capping donations would curb the power of the likes of Lord Ashcroft, the Tory deputy chairman, who is using his fortune to finance candidates in marginal seats. But it would also change – and critics will claim dilute – Labour's relationship with the unions. Purnell suggests the bulk of union donations could be made through the political levy paid by members, who would have to give consent. And tax relief of 100% should be provided on small donations to encourage parties to seek them in the way Barack Obama did in last year's US presidential election. "Such a system would pose questions for all political parties, including, for Labour, how we maintain our historic and vital link with the trade union movement," Purnell writes. "Labour would have an incentive to properly engage with the hundreds of thousands of individual trade unionists who are linked to our party."
"The Conservatives too would have to fundamentally reassess how they raise and spend resources ... this is an uncomfortable but urgent debate."
Purnell's opening of a new front comes as reform momentum continues to build. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman tells today's Guardian Weekend magazine she is "more positive than negative" about health secretary Alan Johnson's push for a referendum on electoral reform. Harman says the expenses scandal is a "moment to be seized" to reform politics.
Today Europe minister Caroline Flint comes out in supports of a "cross-party mechanism" to consider issues of constitutional reform that would involve the public. Flint's suggestion, in an article for the Progress website, is something Downing Street has been resisting, preferring justice secretary Jack Straw's call for cross-party talks between the leaders. Progress, the centre-left campaign group, is launching a drive for a "citizens' convention". Forty activists and candidates have signed a petition supporting the idea, including academic and former Labour MP David Marquand and former minister Stephen Twigg. The idea is also said to be gaining ground inside the cabinet.
Suu Kyi health a 'grave concern'
The health of jailed Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a cause for "grave concern", her National League for Democracy (NLD) says.
Ms Suu Kyi, 63, has not been able to sleep at night because of continuing cramps in her legs and needs urgent medical attention, the NLD says.
She is on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest after a US man came uninvited to her home.
She denies the charges and faces five years in prison if found guilty.
One of her lawyers, Nyan Win, said the court had decided to delay final arguments in her case until 5 June. They had been expected to take place on Monday.
Ms Suu Kyi is widely expected to be convicted at the trial. Observers believe that Burma's military leaders will seize on the incident to keep her behind bars during what they say will be multi-party elections in 2010.
'Very concerned'
Ms Suu Kyi, who is being kept in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, has suffered from ill-health in the past
Shortly before her arrest on 14 May she was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure.
The NLD said she was "in desperate need of proper medical treatment".
"We are very much concerned about her health," it said in a statement.
Ms Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and banned from seeing all but a small group of people for 13 of the past 19 years.
She was arrested on 14 May after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across the lake to reach her compound, spending two nights there.
He and two women who live with Ms Suu Kyi are also being tried.
On Sunday Burma's foreign ministry said in a statement that the pro-democracy leader was "provided with adequate health care and she is in good health".
The ruling junta has also rejected international condemnation of the trial, calling it "an internal legal issue".
Ms Suu Kyi, 63, has not been able to sleep at night because of continuing cramps in her legs and needs urgent medical attention, the NLD says.
She is on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest after a US man came uninvited to her home.
She denies the charges and faces five years in prison if found guilty.
One of her lawyers, Nyan Win, said the court had decided to delay final arguments in her case until 5 June. They had been expected to take place on Monday.
Ms Suu Kyi is widely expected to be convicted at the trial. Observers believe that Burma's military leaders will seize on the incident to keep her behind bars during what they say will be multi-party elections in 2010.
'Very concerned'
Ms Suu Kyi, who is being kept in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, has suffered from ill-health in the past
Shortly before her arrest on 14 May she was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure.
The NLD said she was "in desperate need of proper medical treatment".
"We are very much concerned about her health," it said in a statement.
Ms Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and banned from seeing all but a small group of people for 13 of the past 19 years.
She was arrested on 14 May after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across the lake to reach her compound, spending two nights there.
He and two women who live with Ms Suu Kyi are also being tried.
On Sunday Burma's foreign ministry said in a statement that the pro-democracy leader was "provided with adequate health care and she is in good health".
The ruling junta has also rejected international condemnation of the trial, calling it "an internal legal issue".
Suu Kyi health a 'grave concern'
The health of jailed Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a cause for "grave concern", her National League for Democracy (NLD) says.
Ms Suu Kyi, 63, has not been able to sleep at night because of continuing cramps in her legs and needs urgent medical attention, the NLD says.
She is on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest after a US man came uninvited to her home.
She denies the charges and faces five years in prison if found guilty.
One of her lawyers, Nyan Win, said the court had decided to delay final arguments in her case until 5 June. They had been expected to take place on Monday.
Ms Suu Kyi is widely expected to be convicted at the trial. Observers believe that Burma's military leaders will seize on the incident to keep her behind bars during what they say will be multi-party elections in 2010.
'Very concerned'
Ms Suu Kyi, who is being kept in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, has suffered from ill-health in the past
Shortly before her arrest on 14 May she was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure.
The NLD said she was "in desperate need of proper medical treatment".
"We are very much concerned about her health," it said in a statement.
Ms Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and banned from seeing all but a small group of people for 13 of the past 19 years.
She was arrested on 14 May after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across the lake to reach her compound, spending two nights there.
He and two women who live with Ms Suu Kyi are also being tried.
On Sunday Burma's foreign ministry said in a statement that the pro-democracy leader was "provided with adequate health care and she is in good health".
The ruling junta has also rejected international condemnation of the trial, calling it "an internal legal issue".
Ms Suu Kyi, 63, has not been able to sleep at night because of continuing cramps in her legs and needs urgent medical attention, the NLD says.
She is on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest after a US man came uninvited to her home.
She denies the charges and faces five years in prison if found guilty.
One of her lawyers, Nyan Win, said the court had decided to delay final arguments in her case until 5 June. They had been expected to take place on Monday.
Ms Suu Kyi is widely expected to be convicted at the trial. Observers believe that Burma's military leaders will seize on the incident to keep her behind bars during what they say will be multi-party elections in 2010.
'Very concerned'
Ms Suu Kyi, who is being kept in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, has suffered from ill-health in the past
Shortly before her arrest on 14 May she was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure.
The NLD said she was "in desperate need of proper medical treatment".
"We are very much concerned about her health," it said in a statement.
Ms Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and banned from seeing all but a small group of people for 13 of the past 19 years.
She was arrested on 14 May after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across the lake to reach her compound, spending two nights there.
He and two women who live with Ms Suu Kyi are also being tried.
On Sunday Burma's foreign ministry said in a statement that the pro-democracy leader was "provided with adequate health care and she is in good health".
The ruling junta has also rejected international condemnation of the trial, calling it "an internal legal issue".
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