Sweden Democrats and Liberals launch joint proposal on personal assistants
The Sweden Democrats and the Liberals have teamed up for a joint proposal to reform the system of personal assistants for disabled people, calling for responsibility for the system, which is currently delivered by municipalities together with the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, to be taken over by central government.
"The personal assistant system has today been hollowed out," Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson and Liberal Party leader Simona Mohamsson wrote in a joint article in the Expressen newspaper.
The two parties praised the so-called LSS law (in English called the Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments), which gives disabled people the right to a personal assistant, as one of Sweden's "most important freedom reforms".
The two parties called for a one-off seven percent increase in the allowance given to disabled people to pay for support, to make up for recent inflation, after which the allowance should be indexed to inflation.
Responsibility for managing the system should then, they said, be taken over by central government.
Swedish vocabulary: att indexera – to index (automatically increase a payment in line with inflation)
Continuing serious risk of forest fires in Sweden
Sweden's state weather forecaster SMHI extended its forest fire warning for parts of central and south-central Sweden, despite a fall in temperature to around 20C, saying the risk was "large or very large", rising to "extremely large" in some areas expecting windy conditions on Monday.
The forecaster warned that the greatest risk of fire was in a swathe of Sweden between Gävle in the north, Gothenburg in the west, and Oskarshamn to the south-east.
Swedish vocabulary: brandrisk – fire risk
Liberals call for end of parental veto on special needs help
Sweden's Liberal Party has called for an end to a parental veto on extra support or diagnosis of pupils with special needs, in a move intended to reduce disruption in the classroom.
"The teacher might argue that the child needs to be assessed, or perhaps needs extra support in a smaller group, but the parents say 'no'. This is lost time for our children," the party's leader, Simona Mohamsson, said. "The disruption affects everyone, no one escapes it, and that's why it's a priority issue for us in the next parliamentary term."
Mohamsson on Monday launched a bus tour around Sweden with a visit to the Mynttorget square in central Stockholm alongside upper secondary, university and research minister Lotta Edholm.
Swedish vocabulary: stöket – the disruption
Three teenagers held for Hässelby murder
Three teenagers have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 25-year-old man in Hässelby, north west Stockholm on Friday evening. Two of the men arrested are under the age of 18, and one is 19 years old, Annika Collin, a press spokesperson for the Swedish Prosecution Authority told TT.
The man was shot shortly before 8pm on Friday, and taken to hospital in a helicopter, dying later that evening. The man was shot outside in a residential area. Police will not comment on whether the victim or those arrested have known links to criminal gangs.
Swedish vocabulary: ett bostadsområde – a residential area
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