In his speech to AP's national board meeting on Monday, he came out strongly against the Conservative leader and his promise to VG in June last year about municipal taxes:
– Right-wing parties kept their promise to take school meals away from children and youth. But their most important promise – not to increase municipal taxes – has already been broken, Støre said in the speech.
– Need a big whip
This is Solberg's promise:
“This is Høyre's most important promise to citizens' personal finances linked to municipal elections: property tax, municipal taxes and fees must be reduced when we get a mayor”, She told VG on 1 June 2023.
– We all remember Erna Solberg, who wanted to “swing the whip” against local right-wing politicians who were raising municipal taxes, Storr said.
Also continued:
– Well, Erna, I said it then and I say it now: you need a big whip: in Oskar, who has been mayor continuously since 1951, the Conservative Party increases.
From last year to this year, water tax has been increased by 38 percent and sewerage tax by 26 percent.
Protesters met
National Board
It will meet on Monday and Tuesday to decide the way forward until the 2025 general elections and 2027 municipal elections.However, the meeting was delayed when Palestinian demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Oslo Congress Centre, and several labor leaders did not attend the meeting.
– Demonstrations are part of democracy, Storr said of the demonstration at the beginning of his speech.
Not once in the speech did Storr state his own position in light of the voter crisis facing Labour.
The only thing close are these words:
– because we are taking the voter's opinion seriously and renewing the Labor Party. Renewing the policy, renewing the team, Storr said.
Also raises the fare
After last year's local elections, the right-wing party took power in several Norwegian municipalities. In the big cities, the Conservative Party fared better as a clean slate.
– It's painful, Storer said of the acquisition.
In the speech, Storr went on to list municipalities where he believes the Conservative Party has broken Solberg's promise:
– In the municipality of Sande in Møre og Romsdal, the Conservative Party increases the annual fee for water, sewage and waste disposal by 9 percent. At the same time, they cut the wealth tax, Storr said.
– In other words, they take from broad strata of the population and give to those who already have more, he continued.
Trondheim, Sarpsborg, Fredrikstad, Sandnes, Lørenskog and Drammen also got conservative mayors this fall. There, annual charges for water, sewage and waste disposal range from 10 to 25 percent, the Prime Minister said.
Cruel punishment
The background to the meeting was a dark introspection among repentant Labor voters, as VG noted earlier on Monday:
Jonas Kahr should point to the full 32 per cent in store and leadership to explain why they don't want to vote Labour.
After Labour's historically poor election last year, there has been no shortage of scathing assessments and inquiries.
In November last year, the party said in its internal briefing long before polling day that the election had failed, and pointed to the economy as the most important issue for voters.
A poll taken since then shows that voters disapprove of the party.
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