No action on aid should be taken for the time being, said Mr Nielson. "I would warn against stopping the co-operation as the only way of being able to influence a country."Several countries are reviewing bilateral aid packages to Harare, including Sweden and Britain.. Britain is considering how it can step up aid to famine-stricken Ethiopia, International Development Secretary Clare Short said today. Britain is considering how it can step up aid to famine-stricken Ethiopia, International Development Secretary Clare Short said today. Ms Short said £2.4 million of UK food aid was already being distributed to the worst hit regions.But she also urged an end to Ethiopia's continuing war with Eritrea, as a vital step in securing the country's long-term future."The situation in Ethiopia is very serious.
Many Ethiopians are particularly dependent on food aid in most years," said Ms Short in a statement released at Westminster."Rain failures over the past few years have left many Ethiopians highly vulnerable."The failure of the last three years' rains is the root cause of Ethiopia's current crisis, but there is little doubt that the continuing conflict with Eritrea is hampering the response to the relief effort and valuable resources are being diverted to perpetuating the conflict."She urged all sides to "intensify their efforts" to bring the conflict to an end "so that all efforts can be focused on providing relief and on the longer-term struggle against deep-seated poverty in Ethiopia".Ms Short said a Government assessment team had recently returned from the area."We have already responded to requests for assistance, providing some £2.4 million of food aid, which will be distributed to some of the worst affected regions."We are currently considering how we can further contribute to the international relief response and will be making decisions on this in the coming days," she added.. Britain has a moral obligation to prevent civil war in Zimbabwe but neither sanctions through the European Union nor "incoherent statements'' from politicians will promote peaceful change, pro-democracy leaders in Harare said yesterday. Britain has a moral obligation to prevent civil war in Zimbabwe but neither sanctions through the European Union nor "incoherent statements'' from politicians will promote peaceful change, pro-democracy leaders in Harare said yesterday. Urging British business and groups such as Amnesty International to involve themselves in a "constructive dialogue'' with Zimbabwe, Brian Kagoro, the spokesman for the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), suggested that an African mediator could be appointed to improve relations between both countries.His call was supported by Margaret Dongo, the only independent MP in Zimbabwe's parliament, who criticised Britain, the former colonial power, for waiting 20 years, since the end of white rule, to speak out about President Robert Mugabe's poor handling of the land resettlement issue.They spoke as Mr Mugabe went to a goodwill African-EU summit in Cairo with all guns blazing. "We are not a British colony any longer," Mr Mugabe told reporters, responding to British criticism of political violence in Harare. On Saturday, political tensions in the run-up to parliamentary elections exploded into violence when the NCA "peace march'' in the Zimbabwean capital was broken up by stone-throwing government loyalists. The main issue ahead of the elections, which may be delayed until July, are land rights in a country whose economy depends on high-yield commercial farms which are mainly white-owned.Sanctions are expected to be on the agenda at a EU foreign ministers' meeting next Monday.
Officials in Brussels have already asked the EU member states whether to freeze about £85m of aid and trade concessions to Zimbabwe.Mr Kagoro, whose organisation campaigns for constitutional reform and multi-party democracy, said: "There will have to be compensation for land and evidently some of the resources would come from the British taxpayer. What happens depends on the extent of British interest."The Rhodesian issue polarised the debate around race. The land issue was always going to be a time bomb, and it will outlive Mugabe We have heard incoherent statements from both sides. Britain needs to issue a coherent, well-reasoned statement about what it has done since independence and how it sees its role." Mr Kagoro suggested that pressure could be brought to bear on Mr Mugabe through the powerful Zimbabwe-British business community.Mrs Dongo, a war veteran who launched her own party in 1998 after falling out with the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), said: "Sanctions will hit the poorest. What we need is constructive support for those who believe in a multi-party, coalition approach Britain has supported this government. Mugabe was good for as long as they wanted to do business with him.". The Government warned last night that the crisis-hit British car industry faces thousands more job losses, amid mounting concern about the impact of the strong pound on manufacturing firms.
The Government warned last night that the crisis-hit British car industry faces thousands more job losses, amid mounting concern about the impact of the strong pound on manufacturing firms. Government sources disclosed that Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, is in discussions with "a number" of car-makers about "managing change" following BMW's decision to sell its loss-making Rover business. The companies include Ford, where workers fear 4,000 job losses at its Dagenham plant. Ministers fear that other multi-nationals will cut jobs in Britain or put investment projects on hold because of the strength of sterling. One cabinet minister said Honda's decision to halve production at its Swindon plant "will not be an isolated incident.Mr Byers warned cabinet colleagues during the Government's public spending review that he will need more money to help alleviate the effects of the mounting job losses in industry. He has already promised £129m to tackle problems in the West Midlands caused by the Rover sell-off, and he told MPs yesterday that this figure could be raised.The Government's refusal to take action to bring down the level of the pound, and the absence of special help for manufacturing in the Budget, has ended New Labour's honeymoon with business. Ministers will come under strong pressure to relieve the burden on exporters during the annual conference of the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference, which starts in London today. But Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, will deliver a tough "no change" message when he addresses the conference tomorrow.
