(cont. from § 5) Political lotteries (cont. KrU11)

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! There are many tracks in this case that the Social Democrats' lottery empire encompasses. I shall try to untangle this extensive failure. To do so, I must first explain what the ownership structure looks like in the social democratic tax-free lottery empire that turns over more than 150 million kronor per year.

Political lotteries

The Social Democrats and their youth wing SSU are 100 percent owners of the company A-lotterierna Ekonomisk förening. One can guess that they started an economic association among other things precisely to prevent financial oversight. A-lotterierna in turn owns the following companies: Kombispel i Sverige AB, Svenska Lotterier och Insamlingar AB, Lottericentralen Aktiebolag, Nordic Lottery Nöjesspel AB, ISAB Ideella Spel Aktiebolag, Miljonquiz AB and Spero Spel Aktiebolag. In my speech, I will focus on Kombispel i Sverige AB as well as Svenska Lotterier och Insamlingar AB, as those are the companies affected by the committee report that we are currently debating.

In the company Kombispel i Sverige AB, the Socialdemokraterna run their own lotteries, such as Kombilotteriet, Extralotteriet, and Glädjelotten. Here, the profit goes entirely to the Socialdemokraternas party fund. In the company Svenska Lotterier och Insamlingar AB, the Socialdemokraterna conduct an activity where they take parts of the profit, which the consumer believes goes to research and charity, through the brands of charitable organizations, to their own party fund.

Both of these activities are subject to special legislation for gambling activities called public benefit lotteries. The designation actually means that associations such as the local sports club or similar should be exempt from taxes, bonus regulations, and other obstacles that commercial actors are subject to.

The Social Democrats have, with the help of legislation, given their own multi-million companies the same exemptions that the local hockey club has when its children and young people try to sell lottery tickets to, for example, afford the maintenance of their rink. This means that they have avoided paying tax, been allowed to sell lottery tickets on credit, and had simplified rules for telephone sales. There has been a lack of democratic transparency, as they have not lived up to the requirement for consumer information; they have not disclosed to the customers that it is the Social Democrats they are supporting. They have also exempted themselves from bonus regulation.

Over the years, this has naturally been criticized in its own way, so I want to give a chronological look back at what it is that has happened.

As early as 2013, criticism was voiced regarding the use of their own membership lists as a customer base. In September 2017, an investigation by DN showed that the Socialdemokraternas lottery provided the labor movement with millions in profits every year. The money funded election campaigns and party work. Dagens Nyheter could reveal that the party, through offensive marketing, sold lottery tickets on credit to people who were already in debt. Since 2014, just over 8,000 people had been sent to the Enforcement Authority because they could not pay for these lottery tickets. In 2017, Spelinspektionen, then Lotteriinspektionen, also gave the Socialdemokraternas a warning because they did not clearly state in their marketing that it was they who were behind Kombilotteriet.

The criticism continues over the years, but we jump forward to 2024, when Dagens Nyheter revealed that Kombispel's telephone salespeople targeted elderly and confused people and used aggressive sales methods. On September 15, 2024, Svenska Dagbladet reported that there were several people at the so-called call center who sold S-lotteries that could be linked to organized crime.

It also turned out that the Social Democrats used their own membership lists, that is to say, lists of people who have become members of the Social Democratic party, as a customer base when the salespeople were trying to trick people into lottery subscriptions. Several investigations show how the Social Democrats used so-called aggressive sales scripts against their own members. A young woman who works for the Social Democrats' lottery operations tells Expressen that she felt guilty: "It was after I had a conversation with a very old woman that I had enough. She told me that she still thought it was a bit fun that someone calls her. Because she was so lonely. But at the same time, she said that it was so sad that it is under these conditions that one has to sell things to her. She was so incredibly confused and then I realized that for everyone you sell to, you almost ruin their life."

In Expressen, it could be read on September 14, 2024, that one of the managers who led the work with telephone sales of the Socialdemokraternas lotteries from an office in Barcelona was wanted by Swedish authorities, according to information provided to the newspaper. The man had been convicted of aggravated reckless driving, drunk driving, and petty drug offenses, but the wanted status was then lifted as the prescription period for the crimes expired. At least four people who worked for the company had links to gang crime, according to Svenska Dagbladet. A man convicted of the murder of 12-year-old Adriana four years ago worked at the company in 2016.

In January 2025, that is this year, the Consumer Agency directed criticism for misleading information toward the Socialdemokraternas new sales strategy, which involved mailings. In the same month this year, the Gambling Inspectorate also issued criticism; they judged that the Socialdemokraterna had failed in their responsibility and did not conduct the activity in a sound and safe manner.

Mr. Speaker! What does one think of when it is spoken of public benefit lotteries for community life? Well, I think of when my sons sell lottery tickets for their local table tennis club. I am not thinking of the Social Democrats' million empire and lottery corporation, which has aggressive sales methods and sends elderly people to the enforcement authority. That is not quite what one envisions when that term is mentioned.

It is, in fact, a difference between association and association. The Social Democrats are a party that claims government power and has held it over the last 100 years. They have therefore enacted special legislation to their own advantage. It actually doesn't matter which party we are talking about or if it is mugs or something else, as the Green Party brought up, but it is about the principle itself. It is that one uses these methods and puts people in extremely tight situations that is the problem.

And with the report that we are now debating, the Sweden Democrats, together with the government, will take action against the Social Democrats' lottery activities. It concerns their own lotteries through the company Kombispel i Sverige AB. It is absolutely necessary, and it should have been done a long time ago. Now that the Sweden Democrats are part of the government base, this change is finally happening.

The government basis also has a specific statement in the report that addresses the activities the Social Democrats conduct in their second company, Svenska Lotterier och Insamlingar AB. It is a so-called operator company, which is intended to help non-profit organizations administer the logistics and administration for their lotteries.

I want to be clear that my ambition with this speech is in no way to blame the charitable organizations that have used the Social Democrats' services. These are organizations that conduct research and provide help and support to groups that need all the support they can get. My appeal to everyone listening to this is: Support research and charity, and support these organizations! But do not buy their lottery tickets, because part of the profit goes to the Socialdemokraternas election fund!

Examples of lotteries operated by Svenska Lotterier och Insamlingar AB are Datumlotteriet, which is owned by Bröstcancerförbundet and Prostatacancerförbundet, Guldlotten, which is sold at Guldfynd and Albrekts Guld in favor of Bröstcancerförbundet and Prostatacancerförbundet, Guldkanten, which supports pensioners, Landsbygdslotten, which supports the local community centers, Månadslotten, which supports Synskadades Riksförbund, and Trippelskrapet, which supports Pensionärernas Riksorganisation, PRO.

A couple of weeks ago, the Gambling Inspectorate made decisions in two cases regarding aggressive lottery sales. The Social Democrats are forced to pay 3 million in fines for their sale of combination tickets. The Breast Cancer Association and the Prostate Cancer Association are to pay 1 million.

Part of the statement from the Breast Cancer Association and the Prostate Cancer Association to the Gambling Inspectorate reads: The license holders have in their statements to the Gambling Inspectorate on 17 October 2024 and 8 January 2025 primarily put forward the following. The license holders have engaged an operator company – i.e., contractor Socialdemokraterna – to be able to develop, operate and sell the lotteries covered by the license holders' license, including Datumlotteriet. The reason why the license holders have chosen to engage the operator company is the company's long and solid experience in conducting lottery activities in a professional manner. The operator company has in turn engaged external telemarketing companies to handle the sale and marketing of lotteries to Datumlotteriet.

It should be noted that according to SVT's Nyhetsteckens investigation a couple of weeks ago, there are strong links to the Social Democrats in the boards of several of the non-profit activities. This means that the Social Democrats appoint individuals from their own ranks who are very loyal to the social democratic movement. They are aware that they are taking a share of the profits that should have gone to research and charity to sponsor the Social Democrats' party coffers.

With that said, the regulations currently being processed in connection with this report do not affect the activity I just mentioned, but only the activity involving the Socialdemokraternas own lotteries. In the specific statement that Sverigedemokraterna submits together with the government, we argue that the government needs to act and review the possibility of also addressing these forms of exploitation of charitable organizations.

Mr. Speaker! The regulations that will come into effect from January 1st next year are primarily four. It is about ensuring that party-political lotteries are not exempted from gambling tax. The Social Democrats' former party leader Mona Sahlin expressed that it was "häftigt" (tough/bold) to pay tax. Now we are going to help the Social Democrats become "häftiga". We do this by imposing a gambling tax on their activities as well, which those like all other gambling giants must pay. Apparently, paying tax has not applied to the Social Democrats themselves previously.

It must also be clear that the purchase of lottery tickets supports a party-political activity. We do this by ensuring that it is clearly stated on the tickets and in the marketing that it is the Social Democrats who are receiving the money. That has not been the case previously, naturally, in order to obtain a larger customer base.

We are also moving forward with an amendment of exemptions from the credit ban. This means that it will no longer be possible to sell lottery tickets on credit or with monthly subscriptions. It has been the biggest problem for these older people who have been tricked into subscriptions that they subsequently have not been able to pay. That is how they have ended up with the Enforcement Authority.

It also concerns the exception from the bonus limitation. In order to attract new customers to sign up for subscriptions and credits, there has previously been no direct limitation on bonuses as other gambling companies have had. One has thus been able to offer bonuses in infinite quantities. That possibility is therefore disappearing now.

For the Sweden Democrats, it has been important from the beginning to ban political party lotteries. The regulations we are now moving forward with will significantly limit the activity from being able to continue ruining the lives of many elderly people.

When the Social Democrats understood what we were about to do, they took the opportunity to renew their licenses until 2029 so that they could still continue with the same activities until then. That is why we choose not to proceed with a total ban but with regulations that limit the activity. We will see the results of this as early as January 1 next year.

With this said, I naturally support the report. I also wish to vote in favor of reservation 9.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Chairman! Thank you, Alexander Christiansson, for the speech!

We had a previous exchange of remarks. We did not quite finish in that debate, and I thought that I would take the floor again. I intend, above all, to speak about the concern that I expressed in my speech. What happens next?

Civil society has expressed great concern that it might not stop with the Social Democrats. This is directed at the Social Democrats. It also became quite clear in Alexander Christiansson's speech that it is about depriving the Social Democrats of an important source of income.

Civil society is rightly concerned. We spoke earlier about how it is the large apparatus with 150 million that is the problem here. It is not about small hockey clubs or table tennis clubs, as we also heard in the presentation.

The Social Democrats are not the only major actor here. We have Postkodlotteriet, which distributes over 1 billion to civil society. We have Cancerfonden, the temperance movement and so on, which I also mentioned.

I also mentioned two organizations that receive grants from Postkodlotteriet. The Sweden Democrats have said, and also Alexander Christiansson in the exchange of remarks, that they need to be careful.

Is it the case that the Sweden Democrats have a next step where they withdraw support for lotteries that might, for example, be thought to pass on the winnings to Islamic Relief or Civil Rights Defenders?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Thank you for the question, Mats Berglund! It is a very good question that gives me the reason and opportunity to clarify what it is we are actually talking about. It is needed, I hear.

The Sweden Democrats have a clear ambition. We want to curb cheating, extremism, and organizations that seek to destroy our democracy in various ways. We saw this, not least within study associations, for example Ibn Rushd Studieförbund. Therefore, it is important for us to move forward with a crackdown against those organizations and activities that actively oppose our liberal democracy. That is how it is.

Other organizations, for example Postkodlotteriet, have also been in the spotlight. It is possible that we need to review that activity as well, and the regulations that we in the Riksdag can propose to address it. It is about ensuring that people are not deceived and subjected to immoral activities. It is no stranger than that.

Islamic Relief has strong links to the Muslim Brotherhood. We are completely against all forms of extremism and especially Islamism. If it is the case that there are organizations that have links to it that receive tax money, or profit from our taxpayers, we will do everything we can to stop them.

In my speech, we could have replaced the word Socialdemokraterna with Miljöpartiet if it had been Miljöpartiet that had pursued exactly the same activities as Socialdemokraterna do. In essence, it is not about Socialdemokraterna.

It is a matter of the Social Democrats in this case not having been able to find solutions to their own problems themselves. In that case, we need to help, and that is what we are doing now. We must have a legitimate operation when it comes to lottery activities in general.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

FÖRSTE VICE TALMANNEN

I remind both members that the speeches shall begin with the speaker addressing the Speaker and saying "Mr. Speaker" or "Madam Speaker".

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mats Berglund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Alexander Christiansson!

I received from this answer a reason to build upon the concern I feel. The concern I expressed is being confirmed. It is obvious that the Sweden Democrats want to continue to take further steps. It concerns what the Sweden Democrats define as cheating, extremism, and so on.

Extremism is a rather vague word. These organizations and many others that receive support, for example, via Postkodlotteriet and other lotteries or run their own lotteries, are members of Giva Sverige. They follow Giva Sveriges code of quality. It concerns ethical principles, financial reporting, reporting, follow-up, and self-control.

I must ask the member if Giva Sveriges code of quality is in that case not considered sufficient for the Sverigedemokraterna. The member obviously thinks that it is not sufficient.

Then we end up in a situation where it becomes very unclear what will apply moving forward for civil society. Which organizations will be allowed to run their own lotteries or share in the winnings of other lotteries, for example?

I would also like to ask one final question: Is this about limiting the Social Democrats' election budget, or is it about something else?

I do not think that what the member spoke about – curbing the cheating and so on – is what the bill is based on. It is about credit bans and so on when it comes to buying perhaps two or three tickets for a few hundred kronor.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker and Mats Berglund! No, this is not what SD defines. It is not SD who has said that study associations have been affected by so much cheating. It is not SD who has said that Ibn Rushd has dealt with extremism and Islamism. It is not I who am sitting here saying this. We base this on, for example, the National Audit Office and research. We look at all possible audits of different activities all the time.

We can turn it around and say it like this: Should criminals who commit crimes in Sweden, now that the Tidö parties are reshaping crime policy, be worried? Yes, for heaven's sake – it is clear that they should be worried! Because there is a new sheriff in town now, who is tightening the penalties and ensuring that one goes in for much longer.

We are not engaging in that kind of coddling; if there are organizations that violate our democratic conditions, they of course shall not receive tax money. That is why we have introduced the democratic conditions, for example. We must have something to measure the organizations with.

If one violates our democratic principles, should one be worried that we will withdraw the state support? Yes, it is clear that one should! It is completely obvious. That is how we reason in everything we do here.

When it comes to the Social Democrats' lottery activities, there have been irregularities and things that have been directly shameful and which risk damaging our democratic dialogue and the trust in our democracy. It is clear that we will act on it.

If one had acted in good time, we would not have needed this. Then we could have dealt with it, but one continues despite being caught. One changes a little here and there and replaces some CEO, and then one continues with the operations as if nothing has happened. It is a problem. It is the answer to Mats Berglund's question.

Yes, we stand up for democracy. We intend to stop all organizations that oppose our democratic order.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Mr. Speaker! I shall take over from where Mats Berglund finished and where Alexander Christiansson's answer ended.

I do not perceive at all that there is any interest in curbing all cheating, all irregularities, and all waste of tax money. Instead, the focus is directed at organizations and associations that have political views opposite to those of the Sverigedemokraterna.

A number of cases have been revealed in the media, not only during this parliamentary term but also in previous terms, where we see how the profit interest in welfare has attracted an enormous number of unserious actors. It has been organized crime that has run health centers and vaccination clinics. Millions are being extracted from healthcare and schools. There are so many examples of this.

In this area, there are no proposals from the Sverigedemokraterna, even though it is obvious that it is organized crime that exploits people who are ill and in need of care. HVB homes, where society's weakest should be protected, have been on the agenda recently. There, there are gang interests, there are criminals, and there are unscrupulous companies that extract tax funds that we have decided here shall go to certain welfare purposes. There, the Sverigedemokraterna say nothing, so I don't quite think this holds up.

(Applause)

What I actually intended to take up with the Sweden Democrats is precisely the telemarketing. Alexander Christiansson says in his statement that the methods are the problem. Why, then, is a tax being introduced? The tax does not address the methods. Why is the bonus exemption being removed? It does not address the methods.

When the Left Party presents a proposal that would put a stop to the methods of unprofessional telemarketing, the Sweden Democrats, on the other hand, say: No thanks, we are not interested in that bill.

Why then?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Vasiliki, for the questions! They were good questions – and reasonable questions, for that matter.

When it comes to fraud within the welfare system, it is about a market liberalization that has been ongoing for a very long time, and that is something Vasiliki is very well aware of. A public opinion has been created, and it is difficult to reach out to all the people who use these various services – school, health center, pharmacy, and everything else. It is clear that there is a reason why the Social Democratic government did not make a dent in the matter during its years.

This is complex. We Sverigedemokrater are not for a total ban on private actors, but there must be some kind of profit cap. We must review these matters, and it is something that we work on all the time.

I do not think this is really comparable to what we are talking about now. It is regrettable – I say nothing else – and something we must address in different ways. Welfare crime in the form of exploiting, for example, tax funds and grants within the state, municipalities, or regions is an enormous concern. We cannot have people, organizations, or operations that exploit tax funds in that way.

We are talking about different things. To address Mats Berglund's remark and question, I took up exactly that—that we Sverigedemokraterna will counter extremism and fraud in every way we can.

Now we are talking about lottery activities, and we touched upon cultural issues, for example folk education, when it comes to civil society. To stick to the subject: Yes, we will act very strictly to counter all forms of cheating.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Mr. Speaker! I therefore look forward to seeing proposals from the Sweden Democrats now, for example, to limit profit interests within the welfare sector. We see that it attracts very many unserious actors, and now we also see direct gang criminals involved in the operations. I therefore truly hope that we will see such proposals.

The Sweden Democrats have completely supported the government's policy when it comes to these neoliberal reforms. We also see that you have changed your opinion regarding telephone sales.

If we go back to the deregulation of the gambling market, which the committee decided on a few years ago, did the Sweden Democrats then have a reservation where you said that you did not want to see telephone sales of lotteries. There, the methods were addressed, but now you have dropped the proposal.

We submitted the proposal in the Committee on Civil Affairs to ban telemarketing because we see that all these organizations, which the member listed from the rostrum, are about telemarketing. It is telemarketing that the Gambling Authority has criticized them for. If one wants to tackle the methods, it would have been great to stand behind the proposal.

The Sverigedemokraterna member did not answer why one cannot target the methods but instead targets the entire phenomenon of party-political lotteries. We think that this sounds very strange, and we believe that it is about something other than just the indignation over the vulnerability of the elderly, which they want to give the impression of.

My second question concerns why, if one looks at the consumers' best interests, the state support for them has been removed. I ask the same question as I asked the Liberals earlier, because I know that this is the Sweden Democrats' issue, which you have pushed against the government. Why has the support for the organization Sveriges Konsumenter been removed? They could support pensioners and others who have been poorly treated due to unprofessional telephone sales and have been placed in a situation with subscriptions they do not want. Why are you removing the support for this organization?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Alexander Christiansson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I regret that I forgot to answer the member's second question.

The telephone sales lie outside this committee report. It was in a report from the Committee on Civil Affairs that the exception for party-political lotteries regarding telephone sales was addressed. This has been addressed through several different steps. For us Sverigedemokrater, it was an important issue, but since the Tidö Government put forward a holistic approach to these issues, we have chosen to drop it. There are many reservations we have dropped during these years as we have worked through propositions and negotiations within the Tidö Agreement, but also through budget negotiations with the government. That is how it looks when one cooperates.

Now I missed the member's second question again. I don't even remember it.

(VASILIKI TSOUPLAKI (V): Sveriges Konsumenter.)

When it comes to curbing crime and fraud, I have personally been deeply involved in driving issues within a niche area such as romance scams. I think it is a terrible way for gangs to exploit, deceive, and trick, not least elderly women, of very large sums by posing as a charmer in various ways.

The government is moving forward with major reforms regarding fraud in general. This is a super-comprehensive task that must take place across a multitude of different instances simultaneously. We are talking about the banks' responsibility when it comes to fraud, among other things, but we are also talking, as we were touching upon, about telephone sales.

Now, in this report, we discuss precisely the party lotteries. There, we put forward these four proposals, which we believe will address the problems that we have seen, not least during the recent years.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Mr. Speaker! I want to begin by stating that we would not be standing here today debating the introduction of a tax and other restrictions on party-political lotteries if the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats had succeeded well with their lottery projects. Had they had revenues on par with the Social Democrats, it would certainly have been a different story.

Not many have spoken about the fact that the Moderaterna also have a lottery, but I saw that their lottery revenues corresponded to less than 1 percent of their revenues. According to the investigation that forms the basis for today's bill, the Socialdemokraterna's corresponding figure is 14 percent. For the Moderaterna, it was about 1.2 million in profit and for the Socialdemokraterna it was 24 million. I think it is good to have those figures on the table as well.

Previous speakers have also recounted what happened when the government moved forward with that they would look into this issue, namely that the Sweden Democrats' representative in the Committee on Industry said exactly what has been quoted here previously: It was about turning off the tap for the funding to the Social Democrats and making the May Day trains shorter.

There are, therefore, good reasons for the debate we have here in the chamber today. It is not about any transgressions or exaggerations, as the Moderaterna have previously stated here at the rostrum, but it is because of what has been said and done in this issue previously.

Now we see that it did not become a total ban on party lotteries, as the Sverigedemokraterna had hoped, but a tax and several other deteriorations. But these changes will de facto cause almost all revenues to disappear given the construction that the tax will take. In the chamber today, it has been spoken about that one does not want to pay tax – well, but here we have a tax that is designed so that it only hits the party-political lotteries and affects in a different way than, for example, the tax against the online casino companies. There are therefore several aspects in this that are very problematic.

What will happen in practice now is that different organizations existing in the same lottery market will be given different conditions. It is an arrangement that no right-wing parties or market liberals usually advocate for in other markets, but in this issue, one is prepared to make a concession in order to access the funding for an opposing party.

For us in Vänsterpartiet, it is clear that the reasons stated by the government for the changes to the gambling law are excuses.

For example, it is claimed that the lottery market is limited and that other actors will have a more advantageous position when there is a different regulatory framework for the parties' lotteries. I think that is a very strange thing to claim. It is not the case that there is only a limited amount of lotteries that can be printed and sold. We do not have such a law. Nor are there any quotas for how many lotteries a household can buy per month so that it stops when one has bought their lotteries from Kombilotteriet and cannot buy lotteries from any other association. So that is not the case.

It is also clear that the organizations that one claims to want to help with this bill proposal, those that operate small and medium-sized lotteries, are not at all satisfied or happy with the government's proposal. It also shows that one is completely off the mark. These organizations are worried that the government will now start to point out what is of public utility. Parties are certainly not seen as public utility activities. There is also a fear that the EU will now want to review the exceptions for the other lotteries in the gambling act as well.

If the government had been genuinely concerned about the finances of small and medium-sized lotteries, one could have reviewed the entire regulatory framework for obtaining a license. It has been pointed out for years, for this government and for the previous one, that that process is both expensive and complicated for a small organization.

That is the reason why they joined together in the operating company that the Sweden Democrats here tried to cast suspicion on, Svenska Lotterier och Insamlingar. The organization has a more than hundred-year history. It is not the Social Democrats who have started and run it, but it is small organizations that for over a hundred years have joined together to get help in running their lotteries.

If one were to do as Alexander Christiansson said here in the speaker's chair and stop buying their lottery tickets because they receive help from a social democratic company to get them out, an important part of these organizations' funding would disappear. This concerns, for example, Bygdegårdarnas Riksförbund, which ensures that there are meeting places and youth activities throughout our country. This is what one is urging – that is what we needed to have said.

If the government and the Sweden Democrats had been genuinely interested in the economy and conditions of civil society, they would not have also removed or cut the state support to a long series of organizations – I have raised Sveriges Konsumenter twice here today as an example – when, with the reform, they claim to want to support and protect consumers. It is, therefore, not true.

Vänsterpartiet considers that political parties are to a very high degree useful for the public. Even the parties on the opposing side, we believe, are important in a democracy. We represent different groups and bring different perspectives into this chamber, and it is important that all voices are heard. We therefore believe that it is both unfortunate and unjustified to treat parties differently in this legislation.

Both the Sverigedemokraterna representative and the Moderaterna representative have made it sound here in the speaker's chair as if the Socialdemokraterna on their own have in some corrupt way pushed through legislation that would benefit only their lotteries. That is absolutely not the case. When the deregulation of the gambling market was made – several of us who have been part of today's debate were there then – it was clear that everyone except Sverigedemokraterna supported this proposal. That public service lotteries should receive these exemptions, we agreed on that. Sverigedemokraterna said no to the telephone sales of lotteries. They have changed their stance there, but that was the reservation that existed. Otherwise, we were in agreement. To now come and say that it is the Socialdemokraterna who have in some shady way caused trouble for all other associations and benefited themselves is directly incorrect.

Excuse me, I am not usually this upset in the speaker's chair. But one becomes such on a day like this when there is actually a lot at stake.

Mr. Speaker! Today we demand a rejection of the government's proposal. That does not mean that we in Vänsterpartiet think the gambling market is problem-free, on the contrary. There are major problems. The Consumer Agency has received many complaints linked specifically to the telephone sales of lotteries, also from organizations other than the Socialdemokraterna. Even if it is not heard as often in the debate, there are many other lotteries that have used the same telephone sales companies as the Socialdemokraterna did with their combination lotteries.

To get to the bottom of this, that is, the methodological problem we discussed in the previous exchange, one also needs to look at telephone sales. We have proposed that instead of the Nix register, where one can say that they do not want to be called by telephone salespeople, there should be a register where one can report that they want to be called – otherwise, it is forbidden to call people and sell things over the phone. People are stressed on the phone, and they do not make considered choices. We believe there are many unprofessional actors within the industry, and it does not only concern lotteries but a number of other types of goods and subscriptions sold in that manner.

We regret that all the Tidö parties said no when the proposal reached the Committee on Civil Affairs. They have also said no to our previous proposals which would provide a stricter regulatory framework for the types of gambling that are much more dangerous, where all research says they are the dangerous types of gambling that can lead to gambling addiction. For online casinos, restaurant casinos, and sports betting, where we have submitted stricter proposals, they have said no over the years.

This is about people who have their lives ruined. We heard earlier in the debate that young people receive targeted advertising on their 18th birthday. When the day turns at midnight, a number of advertising offers from gambling companies drop into the mailboxes of the newly 18-year-olds: Welcome to adulthood. Now you can start gambling away money.

It is such things that we need to address. There are many casino companies that repeatedly violate our legislation. Here we need to make efforts.

Another reason highlighted in the bill is that it is stated that they want to remove unjustified conditionality for political parties. They refer to the fact that political parties receive party support, and therefore do not have the same need as other non-profit organizations for additional income. This is connected to hypothetical reasoning that if the Social Democrats' lotteries become so unprofitable that they are shut down, other lottery sellers will receive increased revenues. If one ignores that argumentation, one also completely ignores other non-profit organizations that also receive public support.

Will this become the next thing? There are also organizations here that receive support, perhaps from the municipality, region, or department. They might not be allowed to sell lottery tickets either. It is that downward slope that one is worried about. There are, above all, many sports clubs that have high public support, but they still want to supplement with lottery sales. The point with other sources of income is to reduce the dependence on public support. When we see the government removing support after support, it is so important to increase the freedom for civil society that one is allowed to sell things, for example, lotteries.

Mr. Speaker! I see that I have exceeded my allotted speaking time, and some of what I intended to say regarding the referral bodies' concerns about the legal design has already been said.

We think some parts are good. The issue of information requirements for party-political lotteries is raised. We believe that more can be done there, and I have mentioned that in previous exchanges. We think that everyone who sells lotteries or games should state where the profit is going. We have a reservation about this in today's report. We hope that if one is serious about transparency and wants to know where the money is going, one can support our proposal and announce to the government that it should be stated where the money is going, regardless of whether it is a party or someone else who is selling the lottery.

Vänsterpartiet stands up for a policy that focuses on both the interests of civil society and consumers. Such a policy does not direct one-sided demands against parts of the gambling market that are harmless from both a consumer and public health perspective, which are occupied by the party-political lotteries. There is reason to make certain changes, but not the changes that the government and Sverigedemokraterna propose.

I move for the approval of reservations 1 and 2.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! Each individual part may not seem so serious, but step by step, Tidögänget restricts, hinders, and circumvents Swedish civil society and democracy. Surveillance increases. Assistance is cut. Research is called "opinions." The politicization of the appointment of heads of agencies increases. Now we can add another point to the list: The funding of political opponents is being circumvented.

Let me be very clear. I have no sympathy for the sales methods that have been used by the Social Democrats' lotteries. It is therefore completely correct that they are punished by the Gambling Inspectorate, just as other lotteries and gambling operators who do not behave properly should be punished. This applies, for example, to the Breast Cancer Association and the Prostate Cancer Association, which also recently received fines, and the Postcode Lottery, which is currently being reviewed by the Gambling Inspectorate.

If it were the sales methods that were a concern, that would have been the question one would have put forward legislation on, not the taxation.

It is also reasonable that the person who buys a lot knows what they are financing and where the money goes. It is basic consumer information.

The problem with the government's bill is that it is not about informing consumers. Nor is it about protecting consumers against malicious and dubious sales methods. It is not the methods that are being attacked, but rather the revenues. It is about putting spokes in the wheels of political opponents. It is a sordid way to conduct legislation that belongs in more authoritarian states.

They are not even trying to hide this. The Sweden Democrats have explicitly stated that the goal is to make the Social Democrats poorer. Had the care for the players been such, all public utility lotteries would have had to disclose whom they are supporting. It is a reasonable requirement, and it is a requirement we also put forward in reservation 3 – which I move to approve. It is a way to truly protect the players.

It is not so strange that one acts this way. It is another step in a direction where civil society is being dismantled. That the Social Democrats' lotteries have been mismanaged comes as a blessing for the Tidögänget, a welcome smokescreen that hides the actual purpose of the law, namely to cause maximum damage.

It is not only the Social Democrats who are opponents. The entire civil society is being attacked. The step is not far until other organizations that also carry out influence will soon be included. Can PRO write a debate article about increased pensions without risking punitive taxation? How will IOGT-NTO be able to carry out influence work and express their concern over the harmful effects of alcohol without their funding being threatened?

I do not always share the views of different organizations, but that does not mean I want to tax them into oblivion. That is the slippery slope that the Tidögänget has now stepped onto. And it is not the only measure that has occurred within this area. The government has, via Svenska Spel, increased the state's own opportunities to conduct lotteries. It is not linked to the partisan lotteries, but to the public utility lotteries, which every year distribute billions to Swedish association life and non-profit organizations.

When the change was made, the government stated that it was a technicality, but now Svenska spel has launched a lottery that directly competes with community life. A very small part can go to an association that the player chooses themselves, but it is clearly smaller sums than what community life otherwise distributes. It is clear that the purpose is to compete out the associations.

The Moderates say that it is a matter of completely different forms of play, as was stated from the rostrum during the exchange of remarks, but that is not true. On Svenska Spel's website, one can see that Lyckoplatsen is a lottery where you choose the location yourself. It is even stated that you can choose your zip code address, your home address, and win on that location – very similar to a voluntary lottery.

Unfortunately, it is not only the Moderaterna who are wrong. I think Roland Utbult had a bit of bad luck when he engaged in probability theory in the speaker's chair. With almost guaranteed probability, you do not win just because you buy six lottery tickets, just because there is one in six tickets that you can win on. That is not how probability theory works.

If one is as careless with mathematics as with legislation – as is evidently the case here – we have a problem in Sweden's Riksdag.

It is easy to think that this does not affect anyone other than the lotteries themselves, but nothing could be more wrong. If the lotteries are taxed, it is the revenues of the associations that are affected. The football mom needs to sell more bingo tickets, the scout dad has to pay more out of his own pocket, and that camp that the association could previously sponsor will no longer be possible for everyone to attend. Slowly but surely, civil society is being depleted, and it is those with low incomes who are affected first when the alternatives disappear.

We in the Center Party think it is good that civil society and the association life contribute to their own financing. It provides freedom, it provides less bureaucracy, and there will be fewer lectures from the state on how an activity should be conducted.

The government should simply be ashamed. They should withdraw their own bill and let civil society manage its own lotteries and take part of the surplus, as it has been for decades.

One should also clarify that non-profit lotteries are something desirable that one wants to protect and that will continue to be tax-exempt, and one should ensure that the Swedish Gambling Authority focuses more on unregulated, illegal gambling instead of hunting for non-profit small lotteries. That would be the best way to protect the players, the association life, and all the non-profit forces that build up our society. That is how we protect them, that is how we strengthen them, and that is how we get the job done. If this government does not manage to do that, it is time for a new government.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! It is completely obvious that we have different parties here in the Riksdag that view Sweden's problems very differently and have different solutions for how we should address them, and perhaps also different views on what kind of country we want in 2035. But what is absolutely obvious now is that we in all parties here in the Riksdag also seem to have completely different views on whether one should follow laws and rules and what morality our parties have.

In the discussion that has been ongoing for a few hours, people have in different ways tried to talk about other things, such as gambling addiction and other tragedies, which truly engage us all but which the matter today is not about at all. People have also talked about and tried to portray the Social Democrats' lotteries as if they are about small innocent scratch cards that do not affect anyone in any way.

Miljöpartiet has also spoken about and compared it to the fact that our government, together with Sverigedemokraterna, wants to ban the sale of coffee mugs with party logos on them. But, Mr. Speaker, that is really not what it is about here today.

The Social Democrats have systematically, through an incredibly ingenious construction of companies that is completely incomprehensible to understand if one is not a lawyer, managed to sell lots for enormous amounts, and people have not even known where the money goes. It is this we are talking about today, not small innocent scratch cards.

I will read this beforehand: Social Democratic Kombispel drove almost 8,100 people to the Enforcement Authority between 2014 and 2017 – 8,100 people just during those years! It is not due to any innocent small plots. I think the Social Democrats should be ashamed.

What we are doing today is to make decisions in a number of areas to prevent people – poor pensioners and others who do not have resources – from being deceived, or that people who buy a lottery ticket from the Breast Cancer Association believe that the money goes to research when it later turns out that 50 percent goes to the Social Democrats' campaign fund. It is this that we want to prevent today.

By deciding on the bill regarding lottery tickets, it will become forbidden to sell games on credit, and one may also not give consumers repeated bonus offers. Lottery tickets will in the future also not be exempted from paying gambling tax, and it will be definitively forbidden to sell lottery tickets without the party's symbol.

Mr. Speaker! I think it is regrettable that the Social Democrats do not feel more ashamed of how they have behaved and that they do not apologize to the Swedish people and furthermore pay back the money to the people who have been deceived into buying lottery tickets without knowing that the money has gone to the Social Democrats' party fund.

I think it is extra shameful that the Social Democrats choose to vote no and demand a rejection of the bill. It is indecent for a party in Sweden's Riksdag.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Mr. Speaker! We have now debated here for a few hours, and what has become clear to me is that all the parties that have participated in the debate have said that they think the methods that Kombilotteriet and other associations have used through the telephone sales company that has been hired have been completely incorrect. That is what I think I have heard from all parties here today.

The problem with the legislation that is now being put on the table and which we, the entire opposition, oppose is that the methods are not being addressed, but only party-political lotteries are to be taxed. What Kristina Axén Olin highlights here – that people have ended up with the Enforcement Authority, that they have not been able to afford to pay for the lotteries they have subscribed to or that they actually did not want to buy a ticket when someone called and was persistent – cannot be addressed at all with the proposal on gambling tax or bonus offers.

It is this that makes us think that this is a charade and that it is not about the real reasons. Had one wanted to do the things that Kristina Axén Olin and other government representatives have highlighted here today, one could have done other things, for example against telephone sales, but now it becomes a tax that simply just gives the Social Democrats fewer revenues.

We are in complete agreement that it should be visible who is behind a lottery. Many parties have also said that it would be good if one could find out who is behind other types of gambling and online casinos. Which companies are it actually that receive the revenues, or is it a sports club or the Breast Cancer Association? It would be good if one could find out even more, we say from several parties here today. This is something the government parties could also have stood behind.

My question is: Where do the 50 percent come from that Kristina Axén Olin claims the small lotteries paid to the Socialdemokraterna? I have never seen that figure.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Mr. Speaker! Vasiliki Tsouplaki spoke earlier about the Moderaterna also having run a lottery. That is true, but it was called the M-lotteriet. There was a large logo on every ticket, so there was hardly any doubt about where the money would go. What we are doing today is that we, among other things, are making decisions that people must be informed, both with a logo and with a name, about where the lottery money goes. It is a significant difference.

Regarding some other matters that have been raised here in the debate, I can say that we in this chamber have, through several propositions, decided on various tightenings regarding gambling and lotteries. We have already decided on a written requirement for telephone sales; how bad it is there is one of the things that we have spoken about today.

What is interesting to know, however, is why the Socialdemokraterna, Vänsterpartiet, and Miljöpartiet have not themselves decided on a written requirement for telephone sales earlier. The Socialdemokraterna even said no to it applying to games specifically and wanted it to be exempted from the written requirement for telephone sales. Why that, if one now thinks that it is the telephone sales that are the problem? That is what I wonder.

Mr. Speaker! We will certainly be able to return with even more proposals regarding gambling addiction. I am the first to think that perhaps even more should be done, but that is not what the bill is about today. We will certainly have reason to return with even more things.

What I find incredibly upsetting and actually worrying is that Vänsterpartiet, Socialdemokraterna, Miljöpartiet, and Centerpartiet are voting no to the proposals in the bill that we are discussing here today. It is about the fact that, in addition to having the same tax rules, one shall be forced to inform people who buy a lottery ticket that the money actually goes to Socialdemokraterna and not to the Prostate Cancer Association, the Breast Cancer Association, or anything else heart-wrenching, which they perhaps think it goes to.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Vasiliki Tsouplaki (V)

Mr. Speaker! I do not think I received an answer to the question, but I was perhaps a bit unclear. I wanted to know in what way this tax will address the irregularities that have occurred regarding the methods, which have resulted in people ending up with the Enforcement Authority and people feeling cheated. In what way can the government's bill address these methods, when it actually only concerns a tax and bonus offers that involve receiving a mug or a pillowcase or something when one signs up for a lottery subscription? In what way will this help the consumers?

It is actually not at all about it becoming equal now, as Kristina Axén Olin says, but about it becoming different. There should be different rules for different types of associations. It is the principled question we are opposing. We are parties that think differently about a lot of things, but here we have agreed that this is a reprehensible principle: that one says that certain associations should have a certain type of space but others do not. They point out specifically the parties' lotteries, which are to receive completely different conditions. It is that we think is strange, to clarify this.

We do not say no to that the profits from a lottery should be marked as going to M or S. We say that we want it to apply to more. We want the marking to also apply to other types of associations. It could happen that I do not want to support AIK's lottery because I am a Djurgården supporter – that could be significant for me. We think that this should apply to everyone.

If one plays at an online casino operated by a company based in Malta that does not follow our Swedish legislation, it is also, I believe, good to find out which company is behind it. This is what our proposal is about. That is why we say no to the government's proposal regarding transparency requirements; we want it expanded.

I want to know in what way the methods are accessed with this proposal and where the figure 50 percent comes from – that proportion which, according to what Kristina Axén Olin claims, goes to the Socialdemokraterna from, for example, Landlotten.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Kristina Axén Olin (M)

Madam Speaker! There are many questions at once.

We live, as several previous speakers have said, in a country that has had one of the world's highest tax burdens. It is, thank goodness, moving downwards with the help of this government, but there are still things left to do.

One can ask why people should pay a lot of tax while the parties should not pay tax. This is an injustice that is completely incomprehensible to people. Of course, we from the Tidö parties believe that the parties' lotteries should be taxed just like other commercial lotteries. The Social Democrats had over 135 million in turnover last year. Then one, it might seem, possibly has the means to pay tax when one wants to conduct lottery activities.

Then, Madam Speaker, I do not quite remember what else Vasiliki Tsouplaki asked me.

But I also want to point out, Madam Speaker, that it is incredibly interesting that Vänsterpartiet, Miljöpartiet, and Socialdemokraterna have allowed this to continue year after year. If Vasiliki now thinks that this is a good proposal, parts of them at least, and that one should not conduct aggressive telephone sales, then this is strange, considering that the problems with Socialdemokraterna's aggressive lottery sales have been a media issue for many years. For a number of years, the Consumer Agency has also complained that the Marketing Act is not being followed, and now also the Gambling Authority.

I swear, there is no other country where the largest party has been sentenced to pay a fine of 3 million for breaking laws and rules. This is also no news for either Miljöpartiet, Vänsterpartiet or Socialdemokraterna. But one has chosen to do nothing about it.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 17 June.)

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