Denamrk: A Government Platform with Red-Green Imprints

While We Wait for the Camels – A Government Platform with Red-Green Imprints

The parts of the government platform presented today by the parliamentary basis, represented by the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) and The Alternative, are expected to be among the most palatable items on the political menu. Later will come all the “camels” the left will have to swallow. But if Berlingske’s corps of editorial writers are as angry as they are now, there is still reason for some satisfaction.

By Jonas Neivelt

While we wait for the caravan of camels that will inevitably arrive when the Moderates and the Social Liberal Party (Radikale Venstre) present their imprint on the new government platform, The Alternative and the Red-Green Alliance have had their moment to shine in front of the Prime Minister’s residence between Bagsværd and Lyngby Lake.

The government was formed, as Solidaritet predicted when the general election was called back in February. And at present, this is good news for people’s health – not least oral health.

The political spokesperson of the Red-Green Alliance, Pelle Dragsted, announced that the incoming government will introduce free, tax-funded dental care. The phase-in will take place gradually, so that early retirement pensioners and vulnerable citizens will receive free dental care as early as next year, while the scheme will be fully implemented for everyone by 2035.

The announcement has not only been welcomed by the Red-Green Alliance, but also by the Danish Dental Association. On their Facebook page, the association writes:

“This is very good news for the many thousands of Danes suffering from diseases of the teeth and mouth. And it is an important signal that oral health is finally recognised as a natural and necessary part of overall health. Teeth and mouth are not separate from the rest of the body – they are part of it.”

The Red-Green Alliance has also succeeded in pushing through another key demand, as the government platform is expected, according to the party, to include a halving of VAT on all food products – and the complete removal of VAT on fruit and vegetables.

The party also announced that it will soon become free for children and young people between 12 and 22 to use buses and trains across Denmark. In addition, according to the party, there will be “thousands of affordable social housing units” as part of what it describes as the most “visionary housing agreement” in decades, where public housing associations will be granted a right of first refusal on privately rented housing that is sold.

The Alternative Pushes for Agriculture and Animal Welfare

The other part of the upcoming government’s parliamentary foundation, The Alternative, is also pleased with the results it has achieved.

On her Facebook page, Franciska Rosenkilde writes that The Alternative “went to the election on transforming and future-proofing Danish agriculture. (…) Therefore, we had some clear demands. We wanted to stop extreme breeding, stop illegal tail docking, change sow confinement practices, and give pigs more space.”

According to Rosenkilde, these demands are now part of the government platform. Routine tail docking is indeed already illegal, but she told TV2 that new inspection authorities will be established under the Ministry of Justice, and that animal welfare will no longer fall under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Beyond achievements for animals and agriculture, Rosenkilde highlights that the government platform also includes positive results regarding “children and young people’s wellbeing, a more flexible working life, and more prevention in health policy.”

What Will It Cost?

It is almost certain that the points presented by the supporting parties are among the parts of the government platform that the average reader of Solidaritet will appreciate the most.

But since both the Moderates and the Social Liberal Party are part of the government, one should not expect a fundamental redistribution of the means of production. The Social Democrats remain the largest party and the Prime Minister’s party, so one should not expect major relaxations in immigration policy either.

According to reporting by TV2, the incoming government will introduce significant tax cuts, including the removal of the so-called middle tax bracket for annual incomes between 641,200 and 777,900 Danish kroner. At the same time, inheritance tax is set to increase so that those inheriting more than 10 million kroner will pay more tax.

In other words: both good and bad news. But as a DR commentator wrote, the early signals of the upcoming government platform feel like being served dessert first. The sweet things first, the bitter ones later. There is no doubt that the left will have plenty to complain about.

Schadenfreude

If one has such inclinations, the waiting time for the arrival of the camels can be spent indulging in the reactions of those who are even more uncomfortable with the announcements about the coming government platform.

For example, outgoing Venstre minister for food, agriculture and fisheries Jacob Jensen writes on his Facebook page:

“Blekingegade gang’s friend Pelle Dragsted has got new friends… Quite something that Lars Løkke Rasmussen chose cooperation with the far-left, which stems from Leninists, Marxists and communists, just to secure himself a ministerial car.”

It is also recommended to visit berlingske.dk, where the mood of doom is palpable. Business commentator Thomas Bernt Henriksen writes that dentists will come to regret today’s news, even though they themselves welcomed it:

“Competition among dentists is over; soon there will be publicly fixed prices on everything – and annual economic conflicts. It looks most like a ten-year nationalisation of dentistry. They will come to regret no longer being independent and free entrepreneurs.”

Berlingske columnist Tom Jensen also warns about the consequences of giving people better access to better dental health and cheaper housing. With preferential treatment of public housing, the housing market will become “even more socialist,” he writes.

https://solidaritet.dk/mens-vi-venter-paa-kamelerne-regeringsgrundlag-med-roedgroenne-aftryk/

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