– Galimatias, says Giske and looks at the new government quarter that is rising at Youngstorget. It is the day before the national meeting of the Labor Party starts, and news has just asked him how his costly demands for a sharp increase in social security benefits are intended to be financed. – The government quarter costs NOK 50 billion. That is approximately NOK 12 million per employee, says Giske, and continues: – You could buy a villa for each of the employees in the ministry and still make a profit. It is a completely pointless project, which we shake our heads at in the rest of the country. Despite the fact that he lives on Grünerløkka in Oslo, the former Ap deputy leader leads the party’s largest local team, Nidaros in Trondheim. He believes the state has more than enough money to be able to increase benefits for social security and pensioners. – We have NOK 13,000 billion on the books. With today’s krone exchange rate, it has probably become 14,000 billion. It is not capital that we lack in Norway, he says. Three demands Giske has attended all of the Labor Party’s national meetings since 1990. He is now making three demands on behalf of Nidaros and the delegation from Trøndelag, of which he is a part: Greater political control of power exports abroad. The minimum rates in social security must be increased. Ensure that pensioners do not lose purchasing power. – We see that there is poverty in Norway. People who go on disability benefits, for example, which do not cover more than electricity and rent and barely that. Then there is very little left for leisure activities for young people, to get on a holiday trip or if the TV breaks, says Giske. – We are more than rich enough to be able to share with everyone, so that they have a decent standard of living. There has been a debate in Labor about the work line for a long time. In short, it means that it should always pay to work, rather than living on public benefits. APS’ mayoral candidate in Oslo, Rina Mariann Hansen, has said that public social security benefits are now “so low that people can’t manage on it”. She has also called the working line a “terrible term”. – Everyone agrees that it should pay to work. But it is very scary to say that it is punishable to get cancer or that it is punishable to be run over, says Giske. – What benefits would you like to have? – The minimum rates in disability insurance and the minimum pensioner’s rates must increase. It is the bottom line of security, says Giske. He says the same applies to special schemes such as the glasses allowance, the child supplement in the disability benefit or help with dental health – these are important schemes that keep people out of poverty and help them to basic welfare. Milliarder Giske is himself a delegate at the national meeting and represents one of the largest county teams, namely Trøndelag Ap. And the former minister and the Ap top are not alone in demanding increased social security benefits before the national meeting. A number of local and county teams have recorded proposals for increased benefits. An overwhelming majority of the delegates come from county teams that want to turn up the performance, Aftenposten has previously shown. Here is a small set of proposals that the national meeting will decide on: Up-adjustment of the lowest, permanent benefits, such as employment verification allowance (AAP), minimum pension and disability benefit Oslo Working Group decided at its annual meeting that they want everyone who lives exclusively on disability benefit and AAP to be guaranteed a minimum income of 2.6 G. The size refers to the basic amount in the national insurance. Now 1 G is NOK 111,477. Increased child benefit Increased housing benefit Increased social assistance rates Daily allowance is granted to those who have lost 20 per cent of their working time. Today, the limit is 50 percent. In addition, there is also advocating for a trust reform in the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Agency (Nav). The problem for the Ap management is that any decision to increase one or more of these benefits can quickly become very expensive. For example, the state’s expenditure on disability benefits is estimated to reach NOK 118 billion this year. Child benefit costs this year over 19 billion, according to the government’s own estimates. Must extinguish the rebellion Business Minister Jan Christian Vestre and Knowledge Minister Tonje Brenna will not only be elected deputy leaders of the Labor Party at the national meeting. They are also given the difficult job of ensuring that the political decisions become viable for the government after the meeting. The work line and the social security policy end up on Brenna’s table, in her editorial committee. KEY POSITIONS: Education Minister Tonje Brenna and Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre will stitch together different proposals in their respective editorial committees at Aps’ national meeting. Photo: Camilla Alexandra Lie / news In an interview with Aftenposten ahead of the national meeting, she defends the work line. She also did that when she guested on news’s Politisk kvarter earlier this year. But after a year and a half of extremely high price growth, many people feel that social security benefits and social assistance measures are not being adjusted up in line with the increased prices. And Brenna doesn’t slam the door completely shut to look at adjustments. – There is reason to look at some of the lowest benefits and benefits we have, to see if some of it should go up, she says when directly asked if she is against increasing social security benefits, she says. – What I don’t want us to do is set ourselves at a level of benefits that makes fewer people feel they can afford to start working.
ttn-69
This is how Giske wants to challenge the Labor leadership – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
