By Roger Harrabin
David Cameron vowed to make the coalition government “the greenest ever”
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David Cameron must take the environment to the heart of Whitehall if he wants to make the coalition the greenest government ever, say MPs.
The environment department (Defra) is currently responsible for ensuring the environment is considered in the government’s decision-making processes.
However, the MPs say Defra is not best placed to hold other departments to account on their policies.
The Cabinet Office should take on the role instead, the MPs recommend.
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) launched its inquiry following the government’s decision to withdraw funding for the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), which currently performs a watchdog and advisory role on green issues.
The committee said the loss of the SDC’s experience and resources presented a risk to the government’s green agenda and the sustainability of its policies.
Labour MP Joan Walley, the committee’s chairwoman, said: “The sustainability agenda needs to be driven from the centre of government.
“Defra has the expertise, but it does not have the influence to get the rest of government to act more sustainably,” she added.
“The prime minister’s influence is clear in setting targets for departments to deliver his 10% reductions in carbon emissions. But being the ‘greenest government ever’ isn’t just about reducing carbon emissions from Whitehall.”
She called on ministers to broaden this goal to cut emissions “and get departments acting more sustainably across the board”.
“That means getting the Cabinet Office to take the lead, supported much more by the Treasury, and ensuring that government specifies what resources are needed to make this happen,” Ms Walley observed.
The committee referred specifically for the need for stronger action on saving water, reducing waste and stopping unnecessary buying.
Responding to the report, a Defra spokesman said: “We will examine the content of the EAC’s report and will announce details of our approach to embed Sustainable Development across government in the coming weeks – to meet our commitment to becoming the greenest government ever.”
‘Ridiculous’
The committee’s comments were supported in a recent acerbic blog from Jonathon Porritt, former head of the SDC. He said the signs of the government fulfilling its promise to embed sustainable development in Whitehall were not encouraging.
“There was an insane moment … when Defra came up with an apparently serious proposal to locate Sustainable Development within the Cabinet’s committee structure under the Reducing Regulation Sub-Committee – on the grounds that it’s this committee that is responsible for policy impact appraisal,” Mr Porritt wrote.
“It speaks volumes that senior officials in Defra could seriously suppose that this was the best bet available to them.”
Mr Porritt, who was appointed to the SDC by Labour to hold government to account, is highly dubious about coalition government plans to replace the scrutiny function of the SDC.
“Rigorously appraising the performance of Whitehall departments, government as a whole, and the rest of the public sector, is a critical part of the ‘SD architecture’ that the Labour government put in place – and for which the UK was widely admired in international circles.
“Current thinking is to dump this scrutiny function on the Environmental Audit Committee. This may well be the least worst option, but the idea that the EAC is an adequately independent, adequately competent, and adequately resourced body to do the job authoritatively is patently ridiculous.”
Green groups have endorsed the committee’s proposal for a minister for sustainable development within the Cabinet Office, but say they fear this could lead Defra’s existing expertise being watered down.
Halina Ward, Director of the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development (FDSD), said: “It is nonsense to expect the Cabinet Office or any new sustainable development minister to review the sustainable development implications of departmental policy proposals, plans and practices when the government has no sustainable development strategy in place to provide a benchmark for transparency or accountability.”
Carol Hatton from WWF said: “We were appalled at the speed and ease with which the coalition has been able to unravel the SDC and the Royal Commission for Environmental Pollution.
“We clearly need new mechanisms with real teeth that are less vulnerable to attack,” she added.
“A beefed-up Cabinet Office with a new minister in no way replaces the SDC, as it will not provide independent advice and scrutiny – only new institutional measures outside of government can do this.”
The green groups say they will be working on future ideas inspired by the Hungarian scrutiny model of a parliamentary commissioner for future generations.
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Mr Li KeQiang is joined on the UK visit by 50 government officials and 100 business leaders
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Trade links between China and the UK will top the agenda in London when vice premier Li KeQiang holds talks with Prime Minister David Cameron later.
Both countries are keen to strengthen economic ties during the four-day visit which began in Scotland on Sunday.
Mr Li, who is tipped to become China’s next premier, has already signed a £6.4m green energy deal in Edinburgh.
He has also been campaigning to get the EU trade bans against China lifted and has just spent three days in Spain.
The EU has an arms embargo in place that limits high technology sales to China which could have a dual military use.
Britain, meanwhile, wants to urge China to open its markets and avoid protectionism.
The vice premier and Mr Cameron will sign new business agreements in a ceremony ahead of a lunchtime banquet.
Analysis
China comes not only in search of business opportunities but with a message: If Europe, the UK included, really wants to benefit from better ties, it is time to rethink the EU arms embargo which limits high technology sales to China that could have a “dual use” military application.
Britain is cautious about stepping out of line with Europe on this, and no doubt well aware that revisiting this touchy subject could reignite a row with the US Congress, especially now the House of Representatives is back in the hands of Republicans.
More likely the British focus will be on urging China to open up its markets more to UK businesses, in areas like telecommunications and insurance, where so far access has been frustrated.
Already in Germany, Li KeQiang indicated China wanted to appear flexible, and would pursue a more active strategy in opening up.
Profile: China’s leaders-in-waiting?
The visitor will also meet other key government figures, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Chancellor George Osborne and Foreign Secretary William Hague.
On Tuesday, Mr Li delivers a speech to business leaders, before returning to Beijing on Wednesday
He has brought with him around 50 government officials and another 100 Chinese business leaders – one of the biggest accompanying delegations from the east Asian nation ever.
On Sunday, a deal was struck which will see technology pioneered in Scotland used at a new renewable energy conversion plant in China.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said the licensing deal was reached between Sino-Scots firm Shanghai Huanuan Boiler and Vessel Co/Cochran and Scotland-based engineers W2E Engineering, which specialises in generating electricity from domestic refuse.
Talks were held with the Scottish executive in Edinburgh and Mr Salmond said the visit was vital for building economic growth.
China has already made several Scottish trade agreements, including a deal requiring all “Scotch Whisky” sold in China to have been made in Scotland.
In Spain, Mr Li signed £4.8bn ($7.5bn, 5.7bn euros) in trade deals and has also visited Germany.
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Inside the charge point factory
The BBC’s Brian Milligan attempts to drive an electric Mini from London to Scotland, using only public charge points.
Just before Christmas, the government proudly announced that 2011 would be remembered as the year the electric car took off.
In an attempt to make that prophecy come true, it announced a subsidy of £5,000 for each electric car sold in the UK.
But what is electric motoring actually like?
Does it bear any resemblance to the smug self-satisfaction of those who glide along in petrol-lubricated luxury, untroubled by the fear that they might not actually reach their destination?
Because despite the hype of the battery revolution, it is still not easy to drive an electric car any further than the supermarket and back.
So, in what is arguably an unfair test of a car designed mostly for short-distance motoring, the BBC decided to try and drive an electric Mini the 484 miles from London to Edinburgh.
It is unfair in one sense, but surely fair in another: if the electric car really has come of age, won’t potential owners want to know that if they wanted to, they could drive it from London to Manchester and back at the weekend, to see uncle and auntie?
It would be easy to charge the car by asking successive pub landlords between Westminster and the Royal Mile if they wouldn’t mind you plugging into their electricity supply while you had a drink.
That is until you mentioned that it might need a ten hour charge and would need to leave a cable dangling out of the window overnight.
No, the only practical way for drivers to charge their cars is by using public charge points, of which there are thought to be as many as 500 in the UK.
No one has actually added them up.
Even OLEV, the government office for low emission vehicles, doesn’t know exactly how many there are.
So are there enough? And are they spaced correctly for me to get to Edinburgh within a working week?
To try and get a better idea of feasibility we went to visit Calvey Taylor-Haw, who runs a business called Elektromotive.
At a factory in Lancing, West Sussex, he manufactures many of the electric charging posts that make up the network.
After looking at the map, he pronounces that the journey as far as Tyneside is perfectly achievable.
But between Northumberland and Edinburgh it will be a significant challenge.
“The gap is 87 miles,” he says, “which is more than the range of your car.”
“Ideally you need another charging post half way between the two. Otherwise you are going to suffer range anxiety.”
From where I’m about to sit, that’s a serious understatement.
You can follow Brian’s journey here on the BBC News technology page – or for more up-to-the-minute updates, he will be tweeting from the #electriccars hashtag on the BBC Business Twitter feed and sharing other material via the BBC Business Facebook page
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The report found 42.5% of all cases were levelled at the public purse, totalling £593m
The number of financial fraud cases put before the UK’s courts reached record levels in 2010, a report suggests.
A survey by accountancy firm KPMG found that 314 alleged major fraud cases involving suspected losses of £1.4bn were heard last year.
The KPMG Fraud Barometer found 42.5% of all cases – higher than those targeting financial services – were levelled at the public purse; they totalled £593m.
This was up nearly 20%, from 59 instances in 2009 to 70 in 2010.
One of the largest cases, said to run to £103m in losses, involved a 48-year-old man claiming a series of fraudulent tax breaks for research into green technologies.
KPMG also highlighted the case of a group of men who were accused of using stolen credit card details to buy their own songs on iTunes, generating almost half a million pounds in royalties.
The men targeted the Apple and Amazon sites with 20 songs which they sold through the websites.
It is thought they then stole approximately 1,500 credit cards to buy the songs, and claimed back just under £469,000 in royalties.
In Scotland there were three linked cases of fishing fraud, where fishermen made false declarations of their catch totalling £37m between them.
The report’s authors said economic downturns could tempt people to commit fraud to sustain a business or lifestyle which was under pressure.
Hitesh Patel, KPMG forensic partner, said: “In a year of austerity measures implemented by government, tax increases, the threat of rising unemployment and significant structural change, it is hardly surprising that the long fingers of the fraudster have reached into the public purse.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
British Airways says the part closure of UK airports because of snow cost it more than £50m
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Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic is withholding the fees it pays airport operator BAA because of its “slow reaction” to last month’s heavy snow.
The airline says it will not pay any airport fees before the end of BAA’s full inquiry, due at the end of March.
Hundreds of thousands of air passengers were disrupted in December as Heathrow and other airports temporarily closed, costing the industry million of pounds.
BAA says the conditions at Heathrow provided no basis to withhold charges.
Virgin – one of BAA’s biggest customers – and other airlines have been critical of the length of time it took to clear planes for take-off following the disruption.
BAA’s new non-executive director, Sir David Begg, launched an inquiry just before Christmas into “what went wrong” at Heathrow where flights were grounded for days.
A panel of experts from different airports and airlines will judge BAA’s “planning, execution and recovery”.
Heathrow Airport’s boss Colin Matthews announced in December that he was to forgo his bonus as he focussed on rebuilding confidence in the airport.
At the time, Prime Minister David Cameron said it was understandable there was extensive disruption given the amount of snow that had fallen.
But he added he was frustrated on behalf of all those affected that it was “taking so long for the situation to improve”.
BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said the fees Virgin were withholding were said to amount to less than £10m.
British Airways, meanwhile, said the part-closure of UK airports cost it in excess of £50m.
BAA, which theoretically could impound Virgin planes for non-payment of fees, said it would work with airlines during the Begg inquiry.
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Thousands of people are campaigning to save RAF Lossiemouth
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A “battle bus” is set to take a petition aimed at saving RAF Lossiemouth to Westminster.
Last year’s defence review signalled the end of RAF Kinloss and left the future of the neighbouring Lossiemouth base, both in Moray, in doubt.
More than 33,000 people have signed the petition, which will head south with the bus on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, local business leaders are set to meet Enterprise Minister Jim Mather to discuss future challenges.
There have been recent reports that RAF Leuchars in Fife could close to allow RAF Lossiemouth in Moray to stay open.
However the Ministry of Defence has consistently described reports about decisions on specific closures as speculation.
It was announced that RAF Kinloss would shut after ministers cancelled orders for the new Nimrod MRA4 surveillance aircraft.
The Moray Task Force has been set up to fight the loss of MoD jobs in the area.
The petition “battle bus” will set off at about 1800 GMT on Monday, arriving in London at about 1000 GMT on Tuesday morning.
Ahead of the visit by Mr Mather, chief executive of Moray Chamber of Commerce Lesley Ann Parker said: “Businesses in Moray have been badly affected by the uncertainty surrounding the future of RAF Kinloss and Lossiemouth.
“We welcome the Scottish government’s support for the campaign to save the RAF in Moray and we hope the minister’s visit will impress upon him the important role the RAF plays in the regional economy.”
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Pc Mark Kennedy worked undercover in the green movement for a number of years
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The trial of six green campaigners has collapsed after an undercover policeman who had infiltrated their group offered to give evidence on their behalf.
The six were charged with conspiring to shut down the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham in 2009.
The case was due to start on Monday, but was abandoned after Pc Mark Kennedy contacted the defence team to say he would be prepared to help them.
The prosecution subsequently dropped their case.
Mr Kennedy had been intimately involved in the green movement since 2000.
He was known to those within it as Mark “Flash” Stone, having earned the nickname because he always seemed to have more money than the other activists.
He lived a double life: as Mark Kennedy of the Metropolitan Police he had a wife and children; but as Mark Stone, green activist, he lived with an unsuspecting girlfriend on a narrow boat in Nottingham.
He would disappear for extended periods, telling his girlfriend he had to visit his “brother” in the United States.
In October 2010, Mr Kennedy was confronted by some of the activists after they found documents which revealed his true identity.
He admitted he had been a Met Police officer and had infiltrated their organisations, before then disappearing.
Danny Chivers, who was one of the six defendants in the failed case, said Mr Kennedy was not just an observer, but an agent provocateur.
“We’re not talking about someone sitting at the back of the meeting taking notes – he was in the thick of it.”
Speaking about the Ratcliffe-on-Soar protest, Mr Chivers said: “Mark Stone was involved in organising this for months – they could have stopped it at the start.”
Instead, Mr Chivers said the police officer helped recruit as many people as possible.
He also drove a reconnaissance party to the power station in his van and then hired a truck for the main protest, Mr Chivers added.
The activists’ plan was to try to shut down the coal-fired power station for a few days as a protest against global warming.
Eighteen people were convicted over the Ratcliffe-on-Soar case last year
But in April 2009, when 114 people had gathered for a meeting at the Iona School in Nottingham, hundreds of police swooped on the building and arrested them all for “conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass”.
Eighteen were convicted late last year.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar was one of many actions in Britain and across Europe which Mr Kennedy was involved in, including the protests against the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005 which helped give birth to the Climate Camp movement.
“He was one of the key people setting up Gleneagles 2005,” said Mr Chivers, who also claimed the undercover officer drove protesters there in his van.
Activist websites are full of denunciations of Mr Kennedy by former close friends.
There is some abuse, but most say they feel “violated”, “betrayed” and “sickened”.
One writes: “He must be a deeply conflicted individual.”
When confronted, Mr Kennedy told the activists he left the police after the Nottingham arrests in 2009.
It is unclear whether this is true, or where he is now, but on 5 January he contacted the activists’ defence team to say he would be prepared to help their case.
When the defence then asked the prosecution to disclose full details of Mr Kennedy’s activities the prosecution dropped the case.
The 18 protesters who were convicted last year are now expected to consider appealing against their convictions.
The Met Police are refusing to comment officially on Mr Kennedy.
Find out more on BBC2’s Newsnight at 2230 GMT on 10 January
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Major Scottish fraud cases included an accountant who embezzled £450,000 from his employer
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The value of major fraud cases in Scotland rocketed last year to more than £40m, according to new figures.
Management consultants KPMG said fraud reached £43.4m last year, more than double 2009’s figure of £20.8m.
However, much of the increase arose from three cases involving illegal fishing frauds, which between them totalled £37m.
KPMG’s “fraud barometer” found the number of large cases dropped from 18 in 2009 to 16 last year.
The barometer keeps track of serious cases of fraud involving sums in excess of £100,000 in UK courts.
One of the biggest fraud cases in Scotland involved six Shetland fishermen who admitted illegally landing £15m worth of undeclared fish.
Ken Milliken, of KPMG in Scotland, said: “It is difficult to read into Scotland’s 2010 fraud figures due to the large value associated with the large fishing case.
“However, economic uncertainty and fraud make good bedfellows and as the austerity measures hit the public purse, people might be tempted to verge into illegal activities.
“If this happens, then it is likely we will maintain the high number of cases being taken to court.”
Major fraud cases in Scotland in the second half of 2010 included an Edinburgh gambler who was found guilty of a fraud worth up to £1m, after taking out 23 loans by falsifying invoices and direct debits.
In another case, an accountant embezzled £450,000 from his employer by taking advantage of a colleague being on long-term sick leave to bypass controls.
A third case involved a man who conned a wealthy pensioner out of £500,000 over nine years by requesting money to pay for legal fees – when in fact the cash was spent on expensive holidays.
According to the fraud barometer, the volume of UK fraud cases as a whole snowballed in 2010, with 314 incidents reported involving a total of £1.37bn.
This was 16% up on the previous year – and the highest level ever recorded in the 23-year history of KPMG’s barometer.
One of the largest cases, worth £103m, involved a 48-year-old man who claimed a flood of fraudulent bids for tax breaks on research into green technologies.
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Stag beetles’ love of ginger could be a key ingredient in the effort to conserve Britain’s largest known terrestrial beetle, say scientists.
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The suspect has been described as a loner
US authorities have charged a 22-year-old man over Saturday’s Arizona shooting in which a congresswoman was seriously wounded and six people died.
Federal prosecutors charged Jared Loughner with trying to assassinate Gabrielle Giffords, 40, and killing two other government officials.
Mr Loughner, who is due to appear in court, could face the death penalty.
Ms Giffords is in a critical condition after being shot in the head at a public meeting in Tucson, Arizona.
She had been holding an open-invitation meeting with constituents outside a supermarket when a man holding a gun approached and opened fire.
She was shot from close range by the gunman, who then began shooting into the crowd.
Among the dead were a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge. A total of 14 people were injured, in addition to the six who were killed.
Suspect: Jared LoughnerAged 22; lived with parents in TucsonDescribed by former class-mates as “disruptive” drug-user and a lonerReportedly posted rambling web messages complaining of “mind control”Attempted to enlist in US Army but was rejected
Profile: Jared LoughnerLocal Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said a woman tackled the gunman as he tried to reload, snatching a magazine of bullets.
He managed to reload with another magazine, but the gun malfunctioned and two men then restrained him.
The sheriff said they had prevented a much greater tragedy.
Police searching Mr Loughner’s Tucson home said they had found an envelope with messages saying “I planned ahead”, “my assassination”, and the name “Giffords”.
So far, Mr Loughner has been charged only with offences relating to the attack on government employees, which is the responsibility of federal prosecutors.
They charged him with two counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Federal Judge John Roll and Gabe Zimmerman, an aide of Ms Giffords.
He was also charged with attempted assassination over the shooting of Ms Giffords, and two counts of attempting to murder two other aides.
The Justice Department said he would appear in court in Phoenix on Monday.
State authorities are expected to bring charges against him later for attacking non government employees.
US President Barack Obama has called on Americans to observe a “moment of silence” for the victims at 1600GMT on Monday.
On Sunday, police released tapes of emergency 911 calls made at the time of the attack.
In one, a caller says: “I see the man that was caught shooting was held down by some other… people.
“They took away his gun and they’re holding him down so he can’t do anything else.”
Various former classmates have described Mr Loughner as “obviously disturbed”.
He was said to be a loner who had posted a number of anti-government videos and messages on social-networking websites.
Shortly before the attack he had posted: “Goodbye friends. Dear friends, don’t be mad at me.”
Doctors at the hospital where Ms Giffords is being treated said they were “cautiously optimistic” about her recovery.
The congresswoman was described by Democratic colleagues as a rising star in the party.
All of next week’s legislative debates in the House of Representatives have been postponed.
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Mr Chavez has clashed with Mr Insulza before
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the Organization of American States of interfering in Venezuela.
Mr Chavez was responding to comments by OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, who criticised a law which gave the Venezuelan president the power to govern by decree.
Mr Insulza said on Friday that the law was “completely contrary” to the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
But Mr Chavez has dismissed the remarks as “shameful”.
The left-wing Venezuelan leader accused Mr Insulza of acting on behalf of “US imperialism”.
“The poor secretary general of the OAS is a sad spokesman of the empire,” Mr Chavez said in his weekly radio address.
But he said the US would not succeed in damaging Venezuela’s international prestige.
The enabling law was passed by Venezuela’s national assembly last month, shortly before a new parliament took office with an opposition contingent large enough to block major legislation.
It gives Mr Chavez the power to pass laws without needing the support of parliament for 18 months.
Mr Chavez says he needs the powers to deal with the consequences of devastating floods that left more than 140,000 people homeless.
But Mr Insulza said the measure was “not within the spirit or the letter” of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and said the OAS would probably discuss it.
His comments echo remarks by US Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela, who called the law “undemocratic” and said it violated the charter of the OAS.
Venezuelan opposition groups have also condemned the measure, saying it has moved Venezuela closer to dictatorship.
Mr Chavez says he is drawing up a law allowing his government to accelerate the seizure of privately-owned land and buildings to re-house people made homeless by the floods.
He defended the occupation of some private buildings in Caracas last by people claiming to be flood victims.
“They are old and mostly abandoned buildings and when you ask for the owners, it turns out they are in Spain or France or Miami,” he said.
The Venezuelan government says it has taken over more then 2m hectares (5m acres) of rural land in recent years, mostly from farms and ranches that were underused or where ownership was not properly established.
It says the aim is to boost food production and give land and livelihoods to the poor.
But opponents of the land seizures have protested, saying they damage the economy and often target working farms.
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Chief neurosurgeon Michael Lemole: “I am cautiously optimistic”
US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head by a gunman in Arizona, is responding well to treatment and can follow simple commands after surgery, doctors say.
They said it “was still very early” but they were “cautiously optimistic”.
Ms Giffords, 40, was injured and six other people killed in a shooting at a public meeting at a Tucson supermarket.
The FBI has confirmed Jared Loughner, 22, is in custody and it expects formal charges to be laid on Sunday.
A second man is still being sought in connection with the shooting but officials have no specific information that he was involved in the attack.
Surgeons at the Arizona University Medical Center said Ms Giffords was still in a critical condition but they were optimistic, especially since the bullet that hit her had entered only one and not both hemispheres of the brain.
It had travelled the length of the left side of the brain.
The doctors said their surgery had initially controlled the bleeding, then taken the pressure off the brain.
Transfusions had worked well, they said, and after the surgery Ms Giffords could respond to simple commands.
Dr Peter Rhee, medical director of the hospital’s trauma and critical care unit, said: “This is about as good as good can get.”
Dr Michael Lemole, chief of neurosurgery, added: “We’re very encouraged. We are still in critical condition. Brain swelling at any time can take a turn for the worse. But I am cautiously optimistic.”
In their press conference, the surgeons said they had treated 11 other patients in the wake of the shooting, one of which – nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green – they were unable to resuscitate.
Suspected gunman: Jared Loughner
Aged 22; lives with parents in TucsonDescribed by former class-mates as “disruptive” drug-user and a lonerReportedly posted series of rambling messages on social networking websitesOnline messages show deep distrust of government and religion, calling US laws “treasonous” and calling for creation of a new currencyAttempted to enlist in US Army but was rejectedProfile: Jared Loughner
Five patients remain in serious condition and one has been discharged. Six surgeries were performed.
Dr Rhee said: “I never thought I would experience something like this in my own back yard. It’s a very trying period for all of us.”
Politicians have expressed shock at the attack, with President Barack Obama calling it a “tragedy for our entire country”.
House Speaker John Boehner vowed on Sunday that the shootings would “not deter us from our calling to represent our constituents”.
The six dead included the nine-year-old girl, federal Judge John Roll – who had served Arizona’s legal system for 40 years – and one of Ms Giffords’ political aides.
The attacker struck as Ms Giffords held one of her regular open-invitation meetings – which she called “Congress on your corner” – with her constituents outside the Safeway supermarket in Tucson at around 1000 (1700 GMT) on Saturday.
GABRIELLE GIFFORDSRepresents the eighth district of Arizona in the HouseFirst elected in 2006, re-elected to third term last NovemberHas focused on immigration reform, military issues, stem-cell research and alternative energyGrew up in Tucson, ArizonaMarried to US astronaut Mark Kelly
Profile: Gabrielle Giffords In pictures: Gabrielle GiffordsEyewitnesses say the gunman approached Ms Giffords and shot her at close range. Later reports from the hospital said a bullet passed through her head without exploding.
The attacker then fired some 20 shots indiscriminately before being overpowered by members of the crowd as he attempted to reload what one witness described as a semi-automatic Glock pistol.
He was then hauled away by police, witnesses said.
Local media report the suspect has so far refused to speak.
Various former classmates have described him as “obviously disturbed” and a loner who had posted a number of anti-government videos and messages on social networking websites.
Arizona police have asked for the public’s help in identifying this man
Shortly before the attack he had posted: “Goodbye friends. Dear friends, don’ be mad at me.”
An overnight vigil was held outside the Tucson hospital where the victims were taken.
A few miles away, both the scene of the attack and some streets around the suspect’s home – where he lived with his parents – remained cordoned off.
Ms Giffords, who represents the eighth district of Arizona in the House of Representatives, is married to space shuttle astronaut Mark Kelly.
Described as a “a rising star” in the Democrats with hopes of eventually winning the Arizona Senate seat, she has served on several congressional committees, including those covering the armed services and foreign affairs, and is a member of the “blue dog” group of centrist Democrats.
All of next week’s legislative debates in the House have been postponed.
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