Crisis talks to end day care chaos (Verdens Gang)

The Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party, the Progress Party and the Centre Party found themselves obliged to meet yesterday to clear up misunderstandings over what it was they had actually agreed on when they signed their great pre-school day care deal. When VG spoke to the four parties’ day care spokesmen yesterday, they each gave a different version of what the agreement contained. Not least in terms of what will happen to those on low incomes, who currently pay less than the proposed NOK 1,500 per month price cap. The agreement only says that the Government must come up with a proposal for how an income-related, graduated payment scheme can be combined with the price cap.

Labour protests over pre-school day care (Dagbladet)

Labour’s agreement with the Progress Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party has been met with protests from inside the party. At the last central committee meeting Yngve Hågensen, former president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) made no secret of his opposition to the deal. Dagbladet has learned that the former LO boss and Thorbjørn Jagland supporter questioned the strategy behind Labour’s recent string of agreements with the Progress Party. Labour critics of the day care deal say that the party has embarked on a populist spending spree which will make it unrecognizable to voters.

Kids give biggest income boost (Aftenposten)

Compared to 1986 families with young children have NOK 10,000 more to spend – each month. Single people under the age of 45 have around NOK 2,000 more in disposable income. Over the past 15 years families with young children have headed the table for income growth. "Families with young children have without a doubt done better than other groups since the mid-eighties. This is due both to increased government transfers and to the fact that they work more than they used to," said Jan Apeland at Statistics Norway.

Maximum jail sentence to be increased (Aftenposten)

Today an offender could have committed one, two or three murders, but the maximum penalty is still the same – 21 years in jail. The Ministry of Justice feels that this is not good enough and wants to increase the maximum sentence to 30 years. Among those for whom the new maximum sentence is intended are terrorists responsible for a large number of deaths. The proposals are contained in the Ministry’s memo which accompanies the consultation document containing the recommendations of the Penal Code Commission, to be distributed today.

Fury over railway massacre (Dagsavisen)

A large number of railway lines will probably be closed because NSB and the National Rail Administration cannot afford to keep them open. Local council leaders from up and down the country are furious over the political parties’ lack of willingness to provide central government funding. But Transport Minister Torild Skogsholm has refused to step in to save vulnerable lines. "I am happy that there is a parliamentary majority which recognizes the need to prioritise, and that we agree on where we need to concentrate our efforts," she said.

Police to seal off city centre (Klassekampen)

Police in Oslo will stop all traffic and close city centre underground railway stations during the demonstration against the World Bank on 24 June, because they fear there will be trouble. The Oslo 2002 network of organizations is planning a major demonstration against the Annual World Bank Conference on Development (ABCD). Lawyer Harald Stabell says that the police action will limit people’s ability to participate in the anti-World Bank protests. "The police are without doubt putting obstacles in the way of people’s freedom of speech," said Mr Stabell.

Wrong people become managers (Dagens Næringsliv)

A large number of Norwegian companies have recruited the wrong kind of people as managers. They make up a uniform group who think alike and who are driven by macho attitudes. This makes a lot of people steer clear of the company, especially women, according to Atle Jordahl, head of the Administrative Research Institute (AFF), affiliated to the Norwegian School of Business and Administration.

Steensnæs gives go-ahead for increase in oil production (Dagens Næringsliv)

Petroleum and Energy Minister Einar Steensnæs has given the oil companies permission to raise output from all oil fields to ten per cent more than was originally intended. The move is due to the fact that some fields will not achieve the maximum output permitted by their production licences, and will result in a major shake-up of the oil companies’ production plans. They have been given a helping hand with those fields which already have the highest production rates, without the total amount of oil produced in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea exceeding the designated limit of 3.02 billion barrels a day.

Worth Noting

• Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has refused to guarantee that the Government will implement the opposition parties’ agreement on pre-school day care. As a result the Labour Party is threatening to oust the ruling coalition. "In my opinion the Government is finished if they start rattling their sabres over this issue," said Karita Bekkemellem Orheim (Lab). (Verdens Gang)
• Last winter an expert committee concluded in a top secret report that Norway should choose Eurofighter as its next generation fighter aircraft. Nevertheless, Defence Minister Kristin Krohn Devold recently decided to go in for the US Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project, which is developing the F-35 plane. (Dagbladet)
• Now even the Progress Party wants the cancellation of third world debts and a substantial funding boost for health and education projects in developing countries. The scent of government office has made the Progress Party do an abrupt about turn on its previous foreign aid policy. (Dagsavisen)
• Labour leader Thorbjørn Jagland’s fellow members of the party’s Buskerud branch have not proposed him for a seat on the central committee. Speaking through his secretary, Mr Jagland last night said he did not want to comment on the selection process. (Aftenposten)
• Mona Juul, Norway’s Ambassador to Israel, has not appealed against the Foreign Ministry’s decision on the prize money she received from the Peres Centre. "Both the Foreign Ministry and Ms Juul now consider this matter closed," said Karsten Klepsvik, spokesman for the Ministry. It is the first time in many years that an ambassador has received such a strongly worded reprimand. (NTB)
• The three largest opposition parties have made the biggest gains, while the governing coalition parties all drop back in the last opinion poll before the summer holidays. The Progress Party has the backing of 23.9 per cent of the electorate, Labour moves up 2.4 percentage points to 21.1 per cent, while the Conservatives slide 2.8 points to 18.4 per cent. The Socialist Left Party climbs 1.2 points to 17.0 per cent. The Centre Party now has 3.8 of the voters behind it, while the Liberals are on 3.5 per cent. The Christian Democrats slide 1.7 percentage points to 8.8 per cent. (Aftenposten)

Today’s leader from Dagsavisen

The second Bondevik government is having to tackle a mutiny on the part of local council leaders. It is not the first time that local party bigwigs have girded their loins for a battle with central government, but no previous rebellion has had the weight of support as this one. Nor have previous revolts had as good reason for their protests as this one. Local authority coffers are scraped bare. The time has come to say so – loudly. Local authorities probably need twice as much as they are going to get next year if they are to maintain current levels of service. Voters should take note that it is the Progress Party which is helping the Government impose this starvation diet on local councils. The Progress Party has resumed its place on the political right. Lower taxes are more important than education or care for the elderly. It is the height of impudence for the Government to claim that local authorities can solve their problems through increased efficiency and reorganization. Most local authorities have tried almost everything in terms of reorganization, competitive tendering and closures. Efficiency improvements must be continual, but more reorganization without more money to pay for it will undoubtedly have an extremely negative impact on the public at large. The Government has got a nerve to imply that local councils have themselves to blame because they said yes to substantial wage increases for their staff this year. In the public sector it is central government which leads the way on the wages front. Local government pay negotiations are simply a carbon copy of the wage rises given to central government employees. The Government should stop criticizing others until it has put its own house in order.