Labour youth movement accuses Christian Democrats of indecency (Dagsavisen)

"The Christian Democratic Party is an indecent party," claims Eva Kristin Hansen, leader of the Labour Party’s youth wing, AUF. She would therefore prefer Jens Stoltenberg to leave office rather than form a coalition government with Kjell Magne Bondevik’s Christian Democrats. The AUF’s stance puts them on a collision course with both Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Labour Party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland, who have repeatedly said they favour a coalition with the parties of the centre, either the Centre Party or the Christian Democrats. "The AUF’s statement sounds like nothing more than a piece of summertime bravado," said Einar Steensnæs (Christian Democrat).

Former state secretary Embarrassed by own party (Dagbladet)

Thor-Erik Johansen, a former state secretary at the Ministry of Justice and long-time attorney for the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), has accused the Labour leadership of being out of touch with real life and being "tragically tied" to reactionary forces within the trade union movement. As a result, the party leadership has issued a series of political statements which are simply embarrassing, writes Mr Johansen in a letter to the editor, published in today’s Dagbladet. Mr Johansen believes that the party’s top politicians need to be sent off to do a stint in the real world so they can learn how ordinary people are living.

Røkke’s Orkla shares revealed (Aftenposten)

A note buried deep in the accounts of a company owned by Aker RGI has revealed that Kjell Inge Røkke really was the owner of the controversial tranche of Orkla shares. A close reading of the accounts shows up a gigantic option worth NOK 1.2 billion which can only be for the shares in question. Mr Røkke is himself chief executive in the subsidiary, Aker RGI Holding, and by putting the shares into this company he avoided the transaction having to be approved by Aker RGI’s board of directors, where the company’s employees are represented. Apart from Aker RGI’s investment in Kværner, these options were the company’s largest investment last year.

NOK 6.2 billion paid out for occupational injuries (Dagsavisen)

From 1991 to 1999 occupational injuries led to compensation payments amounting to over NOK 6.2 billion. The number of reported occupational injuries in recent years has increased from a few hundred to almost 3,000. For a large part of the period more than a third of compensation payments were for fall-related injuries.

Hazardous incidents not reported (Aftenposten)

The Norwegian Railway Inspectorate has demanded immediate action after it was revealed that the rail traffic controllers at Oslo’s Central Station do not report hazardous incidents because in their experience nothing gets done with the conditions they report. Bjørn Jullumstrø, an employee representative at the rail traffic control centre, confirms the untenable conditions at the centre. The National Rail Administration has fully accepted the criticism and points to a new computer system which is intended to handle the reporting of hazardous incidents.

NOK 11 billion in unpaid bills (Vårt Land)

Norwegians are growing worse and worse when it comes to paying their bills. Figures published by CreditInform show that for the country as a whole bills amounting to NOK 10.9 billion have been sent to debt collection agencies for recovery. The level of debt is increasing fastest among the youngest consumer groups. "Young people have a simpler attitude to money. You might call it lax," said Ole Gilbo of Gjensidige NOR Sparebank.

Worth Noting

• The Norwegian authorities have done nothing to halt the traffic in illegal immigrants from Bulgaria. The Immigration Directorate and the Foreign Ministry cannot agree who has responsibility for information activities outside of Norway. In the meantime nine buses are already on their way to Norway, while five departure dates have been plotted in for later this month. (Aftenposten)

• The Directorate for Civil Defence and Emergency Planning had to establish another new camp to accommodate the 48 new asylum-seekers who arrived from Bulgaria the day before yesterday. This brings the number of Bulgarian asylum-seekers so far this year to 587. (NTB) Fisheries Minister Otto Gregussen is furious over what looks like illegal fishing by Norwegian boats in the Icelandic fisheries zone. "Norway enjoys international credibility as a fisheries nation. We are dependent on our fisheries resources, and we expect all the participants in the industry to do their utmost to ensure that the regulations are upheld," said Mr Gregussen. (Aftenposten)
• Education Minister Trond Giske has issued a strong warning against the Conservatives’ proposal to allow more private schools. According to Mr Giske, if as many private schools are established in Norway as there are in Denmark, the Conservatives’ proposal would give them access to almost NOK 4 billion in government funding. (Dagsavisen)
• Eva Kristin Hansen, leader of the Labour Party’s youth wing, believes that 80,000 of the world’s poorest people will be affected by the Conservatives’ proposal to cut development assistance by NOK 2.5 billion. "Obviously this is a theoretical calculation, but it nevertheless gives a good indication of how wide-ranging the Conservatives’ proposed cuts would be," she said. (Aftenposten)
• Children as young as four years old are travelling unaccompanied by train during the holiday season. "We see a number of cases which should almost be reported to the child welfare authorities," says Svein Ringstad, vice president of corporate communications for the Norwegian national railway company, NSB. The Commissioner for Children, Trond Waage, supports NSB’s stance. Together they plan to put an end to parents’ irresponsibility. (Dagbladet)
• Even DnB Investor, which is itself owned by Den norske Bank, has decided to sell its Storebrand shares to Sampo. DnB’s bid is not good enough, according to Jan B. Penne, chief executive of the investment fund management company. (Aftenposten)
• This autumn the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) could force the Norwegian authorities to change the regulations which enable DnB to block Sampo’s acquisition of Storebrand. Sources within Sampo say the company is thinking of asking the EFTA Court for a ruling on the peculiarly Norwegian regulations forbidding investors from holding more than a 10 per cent stake in Norwegian financial institutions. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• At 2 pm yesterday afternoon a temperature of 28.7 ⁰>C was recorded in Kirkenes, in the north of Norway. This is something of a sensation in a town whose average July temperature is no more than 12.1 ⁰>C. (Verdens Gang)
• Archaeologists believe they have found a Christian grave dating from early in the 7th Century. If this proves to be correct, Norwegian religious history will have to be rewritten. In 1995 the Church of Norway held millennium celebrations for the first Christian mass which took place at Moster. The archaeologists discovered the grave under Liknes church in Kvinesdal, Vest-Agder county. (Stavanger Aftenblad/NTB)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

With this summer’s queue of asylum-seekers billeted in the Directorate for Civil Defence and Emergency Planning’s tents, it was only to be expected that Carl I. Hagen would take a short break from his Spanish bathtub and give us a foretaste of the election campaign he intends to mount. In short his argument is this: "Every time a busload of asylum-seekers comes to Norway, the authorities stump up more cash and increase the number of places at the country’s refugee reception centres. When more patients arrive at Norwegian hospitals, the authorities do the opposite." According to Mr Hagen, the most foolishly generous among us are the Conservatives, who want to allow foreign job-seekers to come into the country. With this as his main campaign theme, Mr Hagen will attempt to ride atop the wave of right wing feeling sweeping through the country, at the Conservatives’ expense. It is a tactic he has been successful with before and he believes it will work this year too. It would be disheartening if Mr Hagen were to be proved right. The Bulgarians now arriving in this country are apparently the victims of cynical gangsters, who are exploiting the open borders within the Schengen area. The Bulgarians have been lured here by criminals who, with the help of false promises of work and a better economic future, have robbed them of their savings. During his holiday in Spain, Mr Hagen has invented the phrase "bleeding-heart open-handedness on the asylum issue", which he intends to mount a crusade against during his election campaign. Norway has a general ban on immigration and strict evaluation criteria for the granting of political asylum. As is his wont, Mr Hagen will be exploiting people’s ignorance and prejudice.