RED BUS: Jonas Gahr Støre uses and defends the use of the LO bus. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / VG
NOTODDEN (VG) Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) made a surprise appearance on the controversial LO bus on Friday afternoon.
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Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre made an unexpected appearance on the LO bus during the Notodden Blues Festival on Friday. The Ap leaders’ use of the LO bus has been heavily criticized. The FRP’s general secretary claims he is taking “cooperation between Ap and LO to a new level”. Støre rejected the criticism, and pointed out that the election is about LO’s one million members, their concerns and the cohesion in the fight for the same issues. The Prime Minister criticized Solberg for misleading speech about elderly care,. He claims that Høyre’s budgets will cut between 400-500 million in elderly care in the four largest cities by commercializing the service. Erna Solberg rejects the criticism. She welcomes them after with the election campaign bus. Show more
The Høyre bus and the LO bus met at Notodden this afternoon.
Erna Solberg came as planned in the Høyre bus, to take part in a political debate related to the Notodden Blues Festival, where LO is a sponsor and present with many of its top leaders.
But not many people knew in advance that Prime Minister and Ap leader Jonas Gahr Støre had planned to appear. The Prime Minister was to be the surprise speaker at the dinner for the festival’s 35th anniversary.
OUT ON TOUR: Jonas Gahr Støre came to Notodden on Friday afternoon and was welcomed by LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / VG
– I will reject that
And not only did he come to the same city as Solberg, but he came on the LO bus, which has been heavily criticised:
The FRP’s general secretary told VG earlier this week that the Labor leaders’ use of the LO bus in the election campaign “takes the collaboration between Labor and LO to a new level”.
Støre’s answer was to profile the LO bus at Notodden, where he knew the Høyre bus would be.
– It is offensive when you receive such strong criticism – isn’t this the collusion you are criticized for, Støre?
– No, I will reject that. This is an expression that LO’s one million members are strongly affected by the politics that this election is about. It is a clear, common fight for the same issues. We stand up for the community and our shared responsibility to oppose the erosion of the community’s responsibility for both youth and the elderly, says Støre.
Beyond that, he will not comment on the criticism.
Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / VG
– Cut
We meet him and LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik in the LO bus.
– This election is a directional election. Take care for the elderly, for example, which is one of the very, very important issues of the local elections. Nursing homes across the country may be transferred to commercial groups if the Conservative Party wins the election in the autumn. That means a cut in the offer to residents and relatives, says Støre.
He goes believes Solberg misleads voters when she talks about care for the elderly.
– Solberg has said in VG that she will introduce requirements for salary and pension conditions in private nursing homes as well. But the Høyre’s budgets show that they cut 400-500 million just in the four largest cities by commercializing care for the elderly, putting our elderly out to tender. Where will these cuts come from, when almost 80 per cent of the costs in a nursing home are wages and pensions, he asks.
BUS KAMP: Erna Solberg has for many years traveled around by bus in the election campaign. Now Ap is doing the same, in LO’s bus. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / VG
– False flag
– It doesn’t connect, he continues:
– Erna is sailing under a false flag here. If one were to cut as much as NOK 400-500 million in care for the elderly in the four big cities, it is clear that those cuts will go beyond decent wages and pensions, and thus security for our elderly, says Støre.
He believes the leader of the Conservative Party must show the cards and explain how she is going to cut so much in care for the elderly in Norwegian municipalities, without affecting the quality of those who live there and the wages and pensions of those who work there.
BUSES: Both the LO bus and the Høyre bus were at Notodden on Friday afternoon. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / VG
Defends trips with Ap
The LO leader believes that taking Ap on a trip is unproblematic.
– We have union political cooperation which means that Ap is the party that best sees our members’ challenges, and has the power to do something about it. The best thing for LO’s members is as many municipalities as possible governed by the left and led by the Labor Party, says Følsvik.
They say that LO and Ap stand shoulder to shoulder against the Conservative Party’s fight for privatisation.
– Welfare in the municipalities will be one of the most important issues in this election campaign. The government, the Labor Party and LO are concerned with that, says the LO leader.
She says there are other elements in this election campaign that are a democratic challenge.
– There are strong forces that want a different path than us. We have mysterious people who buy themselves inside the Frp’s local election campaign for NOK 10 million.
– That’s the way the world is
On her election campaign tour this week, Erna Solberg attacked the Støre government’s discontinuation of the scheme with free choice of treatment, which means that private players in the fields of addiction and psychiatry have to close down.
– Solberg also claimed in VG that Vangseter was closed when free treatment choice (FBV) was discontinued. But Vangseter has been in operation for 36 years. In other words: Then it cannot only be the liquidation of FBV that is decisive here. When the Conservative Party and the private sector want tenders, they know better than anyone else that some win and some lose – that’s the way the world is, he says.
– Underpaid
The LO leader says the fight against the Conservative Party’s policy is important.
– Jonas and the government deliver a lot of good policy with local consequences. If we get a bunch of mayors from the right, they will stop an incredible amount of important work. I can mention the work for entire positions in the public sector and the fight against underpaid hired labor displacing local jobs.
THE ERNA BUS: Erna Solberg is on the road with the election campaign bus to the Conservative Party, where she marks the side of the bus. She visited Notodden on Friday, among other things. Photo: Aurora Meloe / VG
– Astounds me
Solberg does not mind competition.
– It’s great fun to travel around the country by bus to meet people and companies, so I understand that many people do it. It will be up to LO and Ap if they want to make the close ties visible. I assume that they ensure that everything that is fringe benefits and services is reported in, says Erna Solberg about the LO bus.
She welcomes them after.
– It is nice that others choose an election campaign form that we have chosen for many years, which means that we get out and about and are accessible and visible. It is fine that they copy, but so far it has looked as if it is LO who has run the election campaign and to a small extent Ap. That they choose such a high profile surprises me a little.
Conservative deputy leader Henrik Asheim responds to the political criticism.
– This attack falls on rocky ground. The only thing we have seen of elderly policy from the Støre government has been cuts in the construction of safe housing and nursing home places. Now they are trying to portray the public/private debate as the biggest challenge in elderly care. I wish they would rather take part in discussing how we are going to raise the quality of care for the elderly, regardless of who runs it.
BOAT, NOT BUS: Asheim defends the political attack from Støre and the LO leader. Here on a boat trip at the beach opposite Tvedestrand center early Friday Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / VG
– A bit arrogant
He specifies Høyre’s local plans in the four big cities:
– In Bergen, the Conservative Party is going to the election to facilitate more care homes, in Trondheim the focus is on more seniors’ homes, in Oslo we will provide further education to those who work in care and in Stavanger, the Conservative Party will locally have its own boost for employees in the health sector. Altogether, the Conservative Party proposes to spend 300 million more locally in these cities on care for the elderly.
And ends with a general consideration that teases the LO leader’s attack:
– I think it is worth noting that Følsvik states that all LO members are best served by Labor governing their municipality, while only 3 out of 10 LO members say they will vote Labor. It may seem a bit arrogant. I have full faith that LO members and all other voters are able to think for themselves.
Published:
Published: 04.08.23 at 17:22
Updated: 04.08.23 at 18:31
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2023-08-04 15:22:15
#Bus #battle #election #campaign #Støre #fronts #bus #attacks #Solberg
