On Monday morning, the power trio Jonas Gahr Støre, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum and Emilie Enger Mehl showed up at the Mortensrud police station to leak massive amounts from their own state budget. That the police will be a budget winner this autumn has seemed obvious for some time. On Tuesday morning, Jonas Gahr Støre used almost his entire speech to the Labor Party’s national board to announce a tougher line against criminals. He shouted a warning about serious violent crime among young people, and surprised his own people by being so clear. On Wednesday, Frp leader Sylvi Listhaug Sylvi Listhaug travels to Denmark to learn how to be tough in a pinch, and she can wear an extra wide smile. Lissepassing for Listhaug For now, everyone is talking about gangs being crushed, jewelery and expensive cars being confiscated, anklets being handed out and young people being punished more severely. You can hardly think of a case that suits the Frp leader better. We see from the many local opinion polls after the summer that the FRP is in shock, and is taking voters in large numbers from the Labor Party, the Conservative Party and, not least, the Sp. It is beginning to resemble a repeat of the election campaign in 2021, only that the roles have been reversed. Then all the parties talked about district and sounded like Vedum light, but the voters preferred the original, Sp. Now the strategists in Ap themselves have probably thought about moving the debate over to the right-wing half of the pitch. When they do, it’s probably because they have little choice. Politics is not a reality show, but harsh reality. What worries the voters must concern the politicians. Regardless of whether it is a matter they have high credibility on, or not. Hands up The most memorable moment during this year’s party leader debate in Arendal was when presenter Fredrik Solvang asked if there was a connection between immigration and crime. That Listhaug stretched his arm high into the air was as expected. More startling was that Jonas Gahr Støre and Trygve Slagsvold Vedum did not hesitate to raise their paws. Add that liberal Abid Raja (Left) has written a book about failed integration and even more liberal Sveinung Rotevatn (also Left) will tighten immigration. He states to Klassekampen that we have been too optimistic when it comes to integration. In a short time, there has been a small paradigm shift in the Norwegian immigration and crime debate. A few years ago, it would have been almost unthinkable to link immigration and crime, and the Liberal leaders spent much of their free time condemning Sylvi Listhaug’s view of humanity. Now they all sound a bit like Listhaug-light. There is little doubt that this change in course is due to the increase in serious violence, particularly among young people. Little shakes people up so much. When the police warn of ominous trend breaks, and you read weekly about stabbings, shootings and tip-off robberies in the newspapers, it does something to the feeling of security. And to quote Prime Minister Støre: Nothing is more important than people’s safety. Even people who have been well placed in social democracy and on the left now feel insecure about the upbringing conditions of their children. And they are tired of the problems being “explained to death”. That is why it resonates when Støre says that neither “crowded housing, unemployment or a culture of honor can excuse criminal acts”. Strictly speaking, it is most surprising that this does not provoke the immigration liberals in the party more. Although they sweeten the message by saying that they will be “just as tough on the causes of crime”. How the Swedes totally lost control and have become a core area in Europe for criminal gangs serves as a shock and a warning. Now you can’t afford to “follow the situation closely”, which tends to be the politicians’ standard answer when they don’t know what to do. At the same time, attitude surveys show that people are less positive about immigration. Part of a European wave These changes are not happening in a vacuum. In most European countries, immigration policy is what engages voters the most. It is a widespread experience that many countries have lost control of immigration. It is not only the debate that has moved here. It also has the competition of who has the best solutions. Many are in the fight. FRP has been there for a long time. The Conservative Party has moved a step to the right in its justice and immigration policy in its new party programme. Both Ap and Sp have signed up, with words and actions. The Center Party should sit there with the golden card. By having both the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Justice in government, they should be able to set the conditions and gain credibility for giving us security back. The contrast between the police and the Armed Forces could hardly be greater. Where the politicians stand shoulder to shoulder about record investment in the Armed Forces, justice policy is most reminiscent of mudslinging about both measures and storytelling. Best at a party The one who should have all the prerequisites to shoulder the leadership jersey, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp), is struggling to have the authority and clarity needed to win the debate. Even though Sp brings measures and big money, it still hangs with the party that they have appeared to be most interested in reopening the sheriff’s office. Moreover, it is not just between the parties that there is a battle to be as “tough on crime” as possible. ‘There is obviously an internal competition going on within the government to be the toughest. So far, the AP leaders have overshadowed Sp in government, both in terms of visibility and tough messages. Only in the drug field does Sp home alone party. And it’s definitely a party of the cocaine-free kind. Out on tour – again Where Sylvi Listhaug was followed by the media and reviled by political opponents when she went to Rinkeby to learn about Swedish conditions in 2017, it is now met with a shrug of the shoulders that she is now traveling to Copenhagen to learn Danish rigor. Both Sp and Høyre have already been to Denmark to learn how to be tougher in the pinch. Proposals and statements that the FRP has previously been quite alone in, are beginning to become common property in political Norway. But Listhaug can still smile all the way to Copenhagen. So far, few people are in any doubt as to who is the toughest in the country here. Published 18.09.2024, at 07.16
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Who is the toughest in the country? – Speech
