Youth and bank tax in May Day speech focus
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 1 May, 2015 CET.
Updated: Fri 1 May 2015 17:37 CET
The Swedish government unveiled plans for a national "marginalized youth" coordinator and mooted a new bank tax on Friday.
Prime Minister Stephen Löfven used his Labour Day speech to outline plans for a national coordinator to address the problems of young people who are without work or training opportunities.
The initiative aims, among other things, to collate better statistics on the group aged 18-24. Outreach programmes and preventative measures for those on the fringes of society were also some of the ideas raised by the Social Democrat party leader.
Political scientist Stig-Björn Ljunggren said that the speech contained no surprises and in fact addressed one of the Social Democrat's key manifesto pledges.
"These days national coordinators are appointed in a slew of areas to show that one is 'doing something'. The initiative carries more weight that the actual measures put in place. 30 years ago the opposite was the case," he said.
The second key announcement of the day came from Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson and concerned a proposed new bank tax.
The government is of the opinion that the banks are under-taxed and therefore plans to examine the possibility of introducing a dedicated bank tax. A move that is in line with public opinion, Stig-Björn Ljunggren said.
"A Social Democratic government is constantly looking for new revenue. But higher taxes must be enforced in line with public opinion and on this it is. There is a strong body of opinion critical of the banks' huge profits, so this is not that bold really."
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Prime Minister Stephen Löfven used his Labour Day speech to outline plans for a national coordinator to address the problems of young people who are without work or training opportunities.
The initiative aims, among other things, to collate better statistics on the group aged 18-24. Outreach programmes and preventative measures for those on the fringes of society were also some of the ideas raised by the Social Democrat party leader.
Political scientist Stig-Björn Ljunggren said that the speech contained no surprises and in fact addressed one of the Social Democrat's key manifesto pledges.
"These days national coordinators are appointed in a slew of areas to show that one is 'doing something'. The initiative carries more weight that the actual measures put in place. 30 years ago the opposite was the case," he said.
The second key announcement of the day came from Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson and concerned a proposed new bank tax.
The government is of the opinion that the banks are under-taxed and therefore plans to examine the possibility of introducing a dedicated bank tax. A move that is in line with public opinion, Stig-Björn Ljunggren said.
"A Social Democratic government is constantly looking for new revenue. But higher taxes must be enforced in line with public opinion and on this it is. There is a strong body of opinion critical of the banks' huge profits, so this is not that bold really."
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