Denamrk: A Government Platform with Cake for the Rich and Crumbs for Everyone Else

After record-long coalition negotiations, a government consisting of the Social Democrats, the Socialist People s Party (SF), the Social Liberal Party (Radikale Venstre), and the Moderates (Moderaterne) has finally been formed. We can now set aside the endless speculation about party combinations and parliamentary arithmetic and instead focus on the political direction this government intends to follow.

That direction is outlined in its 77-page government platform, which, put simply, is not a pleasant read.

To be fair, it does contain some positive initiatives: an ambition to provide free dental care for all Danes, a national ban on certain spraying practices to protect drinking water, and a number of measures aimed at improving animal welfare, particularly in pig production.

These are positive elements that should not be dismissed. However, taken as a whole, the platform favors the wealthy and large corporations more than ordinary Danish citizens.

It includes massive tax cuts for the richest individuals, a three-percentage-point reduction in corporate tax, continued military rearmament, and an immigration policy that pushes the boundaries of international conventions. Portraying this government as a so-called “centre-left” or “red-leaning” government is a gross exaggeration.

In the area of taxation, the government plans to abolish the so-called middle tax bracket and the additional top tax bracket.

Under the proposed system, everyone earning less than DKK 770,000 per year will pay the same tax rate. Above that threshold, everyone will pay the same percentage regardless of whether they earn DKK 800,000 or DKK 3 million annually.

According to the liberal economic think tank CEPOS, abolishing these taxes would provide a director s family with two children a tax reduction of DKK 10,200 per year, while a working-class family with two children would receive no tax relief whatsoever.

These are tax cuts so substantial that even the most conservative right-wing parties might be envious. It is also worth remembering that these are funds that could instead have been invested in public welfare.

The new government is therefore not the “red-purple” coalition that the media likes to describe it as, but rather a deeply conservative, pro-EU, and militaristic government.

Notably, the major tax cuts are almost the only measures in the platform for which a concrete financing plan has been outlined. Even then, part of the funding depends on projected fiscal room for maneuver within the economy, something that may change and ultimately require alternative sources of financing.

At the same time, many of the welfare initiatives remain unfunded. The only commitment stated is that “the government will identify financing for these initiatives on an ongoing basis.”

This says a great deal about the government s priorities. Tax cuts for the wealthy and for business interests come with relatively detailed funding plans, while the welfare services relied upon by the broader population must wait for funding that may never materialize.

This theme runs throughout the government platform. Welfare initiatives are frequently referred to commissions or other forms of bureaucratic postponement, while measures benefiting the business sector are to be implemented as quickly as possible. This is also evident in the inclusion of the so-called Draghi Report from the European Union within the government program.

The government aims to “reduce burdens on businesses by 25 percent.” Behind this carefully worded phrase lies deregulation, reductions in fees and taxes, and potentially, in the worst case, greater opportunities for companies to circumvent collective agreements and demands from the trade union movement.

At the same time, the new government intends to further enrich the arms industry, attract additional Ukrainian weapons manufacturers to Denmark, and deepen Denmark s integration into the European Union.

These are just a few examples of the many measures that will primarily benefit large corporations and the wealthy, while leaving the rest of the population behind. This comes despite attempts by the so-called “red” parties to market the government as a victory for the welfare state, one that is supposedly to be rebuilt and expanded.

However, a close reading of the platform makes it clear that this is not the case. The menu offers cake for the rich and crumbs for everyone else.

The new government is therefore not the “red-purple” coalition that the media likes to call it, but a deeply conservative, pro-EU, and militaristic government. It will be our task over the next four years to expose and criticize that reality.


https://arbejderen.dk/leder/et-regeringsgrundlag-med-kage-til-de-rigeste-og-krummer-til-alle-andre/

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