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LABOUR DAY

Right-wing Progress ‘not a party for workers’: Labour leader in May 1st speech

Jonas Gahr Støre, leader of Norway’s opposition Labour party, used his speech on International Workers’ Day to hit back at the populist Progress Party.

Published: 1 May 2018 14:51 CEST
Right-wing Progress 'not a party for workers': Labour leader in May 1st speech
Youngstorget in Oslo on May 1st 2018. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB scanpix

Støre made the statement in the town of Trysil in Hedmark County, where he was speaking at an event marking Labour Day.

International Workers’ Day is marked by gatherings, speeches and events in many towns and cities across Norway, a country with a strong tradition for trade unions and social democratic movements.

The Labour leader made his comments in response to the announcement that Sylvi Listhaug, a prominent figure in the anti-immigration Progress Party (FrP) and former justice minister, was giving a Labour Day speech in the town of Drammen near Oslo.

“It’s great that she’s giving a speech. But I don’t agree with her message that FrP is a party for workers. It’s a classic right-wing party,” Støre said according to NRK.

Policies implemented by the government, in which the Progress Party has been a coalition partner since 2013, were testament to that claim, the opposition leader continued.

“They give tax breaks to those who have the most, the number of temporary jobs is up, conditions are getting worse for those [in unions] and there is a lack of desire to tackle issues that are important for families and people that are trying to make their lives work,” he said in the speech.

Listhaug’s own speech on Tuesday afternoon contained a personal attack on Støre, a multi-millionaire whose fortune comes largely from the sale of family business Jøtul in the 1970s.

“He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He has never had a normal job and was educated amongst the elite in France. I don’t have a problem with higher education, but who reflects the people? FrP does. We are the party for most of the people. We are the party of working people,” Listhaug said, NRK reports.

Støre studied political science at the prestigious Sciences Po university in Paris from 1981 to 1985.

Tension between the political rivals has been at a head since Listhaug was forced to step down from her role as justice minister in March due to outcry over a boundary-pushing social media criticism of Støre’s Labour party.

Listhaug said in her May 1st speech that she would “do all I can” to prevent Støre from becoming prime minister, “for as long as I’m able to draw breath,” NRK reports.

READ ALSO: Snow forecast in Oslo for May 1st

MAY DAY

Over 10,000 protesters take to Berlin streets as Germany marks May 1st

Thousands of people descended on the streets of Berlin and other cities across Germany on Saturday for Labour Day demonstrations, with more than 20 protests in the capital alone.

Published: 1 May 2021 20:30 CEST
Over 10,000 protesters take to Berlin streets as Germany marks May 1st
The word 'solidarity' in capitals can be seen in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin where the DGB trade union confederation held an event on May Day. picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Paul Zinken

Amid fears that the May 1st demonstrations planned by left- and right-wing groups could turn violent, 5,600 police officers from nine federal states were deployed to the capital. 

Over 20 rallies were scheduled to be held over issues ranging from rising rents to Germany’s immigration policy and opposition to coronavirus curbs.

Police officers of an Arrest unit (BFE), brought to Berlin for the day from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, take up a strategic position in front of the “Search and Destroy” skateboard shop at Heinrich-Platz, a flare-up point during Mayday riots in previous years, ahead of the so-called “Revolutionary May Day” protests in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district on May 1, 2021. (Photo by David GANNON / AFP)

The DGB trade union confederation held its traditional rally at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on Saturday morning, marking the start of several May Day events and demonstrations.

The event was much smaller than in previous years due to the pandemic.

The anti-capitalist ‘MyGruni” demonstration in another part of the city took the form of a bicycle convoy through the Grunewald area and attracted around 10,000 participants, four times the number expected, Berlin news site RBB reported.

Despite the higher-than-expected turnout, a police spokeswoman said the event was trouble-free, according to RBB.

Police were under greater pressure this year as protests against the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, many from the far-right, were also scheduled to take place alongside the usual left-wing rallies.

Protesters take to the streets of Stuttgart for a DBG trade union confederation demonstration on Labour Day. (picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Schmidt)

However, a demonstration held by critics of Covid-19 measures — the so-called ‘Querdenker’ group — was also quieter than anticipated with around 350 participants compared with the 1,000 expected.

READ ALSO: Germany’s spy agency to monitor ‘Querdenker’ Covid sceptics

Police said the protest was peaceful overall and German daily Bild reported that no “clearly recognisable” far-right extremists were present. 

One protester was reported to have held a banner which read: “This is not a platform for AfD, Pegida, Nazis”.

However, not everyone was wearing face coverings, which are required. At the start of the demonstration, police took more than a dozen unmasked protesters aside to take down their details and issue administrative offence notices.

Police can be seen removing protesters in the below screenshot, one of several clips posted on Twitter.

A few metres away, around a hundred people took part in an opposing event against the Covid-19 critics, but the police quickly put themselves in between the two groups, the Berliner Morgenpost reported.

In the middle of the afternoon, the Berlin police said in a tweet that demonstrations had so far been mostly trouble-free. They said they had issued 59 notices, mainly for Covid-19 breaches.

However, there were still concerns that some of the evening’s protests, including the left and far-left groups’ traditional ‘Revolutionary May 1st Protest’, could turn violent, especially later in the evening, as they have in the past.

Authorities were expecting up to 10,000 protesters at the left-wing Revolutionary May Day march, which was scheduled to start at 6pm.

Unlike last year’s May Day when the number of people who were allowed to gather was restricted, the number of participants is not limited this year. However, people are still required to comply with social distancing and face covering rules.

Berlin Police Chief Barbara Slowik has said that her officers would “act consistently” and that any breaches of Coronavirus regulations would result in demonstrations being quickly broken up, RBB reported earlier. 

Police officers would even use water cannons if necessary, she said.

State prosecutors were also on standby to sign arrest warrants if required, according to a spokeswoman from the prosecution service, Bild reported.

Elsewhere in Germany, there were clashes at an anti-fascist demonstration in Munich organised by the Revolutionary May 1st initiative, with police having to use pepper spray to break up demonstrators.

This was the second day of violence in the southern city after an anti-fascist protest on Friday also had to be dispersed.

According to Bild, participants didn’t observe social distancing and pushed against the police, prompting officers to use pepper spray.

Meanwhile, in Leipzig, three demonstrations were banned due to pandemic restriction measures, including a rally by the small right-wing Third Path party. A total of twelve demonstrations and bicycle convoys were registered.

A bike with a flag that says “Nazis out!’ at a left-wing bike protest at the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig on May 1st. (picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Jan Woitas)

Third Path demonstrations were also banned in the eastern cities of Zwickau and Plauen.

READ ALSO: Why is May 1st a holiday in Germany?

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