Welfare a problem for Labour (Dagsavisen)

The Labour Party hopes the slogan "If welfare means most" will convince the voters that the party is the guarantor of the Norwegian welfare state. But according to a number of experts, the welfare landscape has become more complicated than the Labour Party likes to admit. "The Progress Party’s emphasis on welfare policy in recent years has made life more difficult for Labour," claims Oddbjørn Knutsen, professor of political science at the University of Oslo. According to Frank Aarebrot, a well-known election pundit and Labour Party member, the party has struggled in recent years to profile itself as a guardian of the welfare state. He believes this is mainly due to the lack of major, wide-ranging reforms in its party programme. "Previously the Labour Party never went to the polls without offering the voters some major reform or other," he said.

Labour chooses EU membership over welfare (Dagbladet)

Centre Party chairman Odd Roger Enoksen believes the Labour leadership would rather see the Conservatives win the election than put EU membership on hold. "EU membership is the issue Thorbjørn Jagland is most passionate about. The Government is trying to sneak the country into the EU by the back door in many areas. Mr Jagland will not let cooperation with an anti-EU party stop him," said Mr Enoksen. If Mr Jagland had put the EU membership issue on hold for the next four years, a collaboration between the Labour Party and the Centre Party could have been possible. But this is something the Labour leadership is unwilling to do, according to Mr Enoksen.

Norwegian border full of holes (Aftenposten)

According to the Schengen agreement, ships putting into Norwegian ports are supposed to be checked by officers of the National Bureau of Crime Investigation. But only 12 per cent of the checks are actually being carried out because the Bureau lacks the necessary computer programs. If the Bureau had had specially written software, the lists could automatically have been checked against the Schengen Information System (SIS), Schengen’s enormous database containing the details of over 700,000 wanted or undesirable individuals. The passenger manifests of around 37,000 ship arrivals are currently checked manually.

Mum and dad push up prices (Dagsavisen)

An increasing number of parents have entered the hard-pressed housing market to secure a roof over their offsprings’ heads. As the start of the next university term approaches, prices are being pushed up. Parents’ purchases combined with a lack of available properties have led to a 10 per cent rise in house prices in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen. Estate Agents are now seeing a similar trend in Oslo. "Developments in the housing market in recent years mean that financial support from parents is almost a prerequisite for first-time buyers," said Stein Vaagen, regional manager with estate agents, Exact.

100 on waiting list for Muslim school (Aftenposten)

Norway’s first Muslim primary school will open this autumn in Oslo, but there is room for only 75 pupils. A further 100 youngsters are on the waiting list. Unlike ordinary Norwegian schools, this school will provide children with a prayer room, more Norwegian language tuition and separate physical education classes for boys and girls. Although the school is private, 85 per cent of the running costs will be covered by the state. The remainder of the school’s expenses will be paid for through tuition fees from parents, as well as private donations from people in Norway and abroad.

Government plans raid on restaurants (Dagens Næringsliv)

The restaurant business is preparing to face the biggest anti-fraud raid in its history. The Government has warned it intends to mount a wide-ranging campaign to clean up economic crime in the industry. "We are planning an offensive and we intend to attack on several fronts," said State Secretary Ellen Mo at the Ministry of Finance, who heads the Government’s task force on fraud in the restaurant business.

Worth Noting

• A three-day-old baby was kidnapped from Haugesund hospital yesterday. Eight hours later the baby was found and reunited with its parents at the hospital. A women in her thirties had taken the baby. A tip-off from a member of the public led police to the flat where the woman was staying with the baby. (All newspapers)
• EU membership will be an important issue in the election campaign, according to Centre Party chairman Odd Roger Enoksen and former anti-EU campaign leader Kristen Nygaard. A Centre Party publicity campaign is intended to put the issue on the public agenda. (Nationen)
• The Bulgarian asylum-seekers who arrived back in Sofia on Sunday morning by charter plane, are planning to sue the organizers of the asylum buses for fraud. The almost 200 people who have returned so far feel they have been conned. (Aftenposten)
• The traffic police have given their backing to higher motorway speed limits. Trials with a 100 km per hour speed limit on the main E6 motorway have been an unqualified success. Motorists feel the speed limit is more appropriate and are less inclined to break it. (Dagbladet)
• Employees at Moss Maritime were threatened with temporary lay-offs. Together with the investment company, Investeringsselskapet Reiten & Co, they bought a stake in their own workplace. They now stand to make a fortune when the Italian company, Saipem, acquires the engineering firm. The employees will receive almost 20 times what they paid for their shares. (Aftenposten)

Today’s comment from Vårt Land

Dagsavisen has taken a closer look at the voting record of the Labour Party in the Storting, and concludes that the reality is in stark contrast to the party’s slogan "If welfare means most". The Labour Party has voted against a number of proposals intended to improve the situation for low-income groups, schools and nurseries, pensioners and the sick, writes the newspaper. This kind of analysis is in many ways unfair. It is a well-known game among MPs to put forward proposals which are only for show, and which the sponsor knows will be voted down. The Progress Party in particular is an expert at just this game. Putting forward proposals without specifying an adequate financial framework is a luxury opposition parties can allow themselves, while governing parties can not. Nevertheless, Dagsavisen’s argument is one which could have a damaging impact on the Labour Party, because the overall policies which the party represents are not necessarily any more welfare-friendly than the other parties’ policies. If we exclude the Progress Party – since this party apparently has a bottomless well of oil revenues to spend on both tax cuts and welfare measures – the difference between the parties on welfare issues is not that great.