Party debate

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! Three years ago, we received the mandate from the Swedish people to get Sweden in order. Let me remind you of how it was then. It was a Sweden with constant government crises where the Finance Minister could not even get his own budget through. It was a Sweden where the fatal shootings had tripled in ten years and a Sweden that received 300,000 asylum seekers without a thought for the consequences. It was a Sweden where inflation was over 10 percent, where mortgage rates had doubled, where diesel cost 28 kronor per liter and where electricity prices were extreme because the parties to the left had shut down four nuclear reactors. It was a Sweden that was becoming poorer and more dangerous. The Swedish people saw this and voted out the government and the policy that had led Sweden there.

Step by step, we are now making the decisions that make Sweden richer and safer. We have pushed down inflation from 10 percent to 2 percent. That alone reduces the costs for welfare by 50 billion kronor. We have lowered the tax for everyone who goes to work. An ordinary family has received 23,000 kronor in lower taxes over two years, and a diesel refueling costs 600–700 kronor less now.

Sweden has received 2,400 new police officers, and they have received more new tools: preventive wiretapping, security zones, and anonymous witnesses. The police are also finally taking the gangs' luxury items and status symbols. Last year, 19,000 prison years were sentenced. That is more than any time before. It says something that it even needs to be done, but when more criminals are locked up longer, more honest people dare to be out.

We have reduced asylum migration to the lowest level since 1985. Then we get a chance to manage the integration.

We maintain roads and railways. This year alone, we are spending 18 billion on railway maintenance.

Mr. Speaker! We have had some haste – for haste, those who are not used to getting anything done think. But we are on the right track. We get things done.

Now is the time for new, major future investments so that we can hand over a better Sweden to our children and grandchildren. We have an important role to play in the world, but in restless times, it is our responsibility to build Sweden strong. We support Ukraine, but we are also carrying out the largest upgrade of the Swedish defense since the Cold War. We are making historical investments in research and infrastructure, which strengthens Swedish competitiveness when the USA threatens with trade wars. A new Swedish nuclear power program provides more stable, fossil-free electricity for the green transition. This means more Swedish jobs, increased Swedish growth, and a stronger Sweden. Just in the last few weeks, companies such as Nvidia and Brookfield have presented AI investments in Sweden of up to 100 billion kronor. They believe in Sweden. So do I.

(Applause)

Mr. Speaker! Next year it is election time again, and two alternatives stand against each other. On my side of politics, we want to continue to get Sweden in order. On the other side, they want to turn back the clock. The Social Democrats are now making the biggest turn to the left since the days of the wage funds in the 70s and 80s. It is a new situation in Swedish politics. They want Sweden to work less through shortened working hours. They want to abolish the care day so that more people take sick leave. They want people to be able to retire earlier. They want to raise the benefits for those who do not work. Everyone knows who will have to pay. It will be higher taxes for those who work. Just take Stockholm, where the left-wing parties have raised the tax for an ordinary family by 6,000 kronor per year. Still, they cannot protect even the bus traffic or the eating disorder clinics.

The leftward turn is about much more than just the economy. After their ill-considered immigration policy, the Social Democrats now want to solve segregation by mixing the population, as they say. Their plan is that those who live in well-functioning areas should be used as integration tools. But problems with crime, honor culture, and clan rule are not solved by spreading the problems across the country, but by seriously tackling the problems.

The Social Democrats' turn to the left is only the beginning. Everything they want is to be compromised with Vänsterpartiet and Miljöpartiet, and that wish list is long: higher taxes, which would affect almost half of the country's police officers and nurses, reintroduced property tax, increased immigration and a refugee amnesty. Furthermore, the desire for Sweden to leave Nato in the middle of an ongoing war is staggeringly reckless.

All of this would be negotiated in a left-wing government, and during this mandate period, Vänsterpartiet or Miljöpartiet or both have voted no to almost all of our proposals on new crime policy and reduced immigration.

Mr. Speaker! In a time when Sweden is squeezed between Putin's military war against Ukraine and Trump's threats of trade wars against Europe, we must safeguard Swedish security and the Swedish economy. Now is not the time for political experiments. Sweden cannot afford a turn to the left. Let us instead keep a cool head and a steady course: from poorer and more dangerous to richer and safer for a much better tomorrow.

(Applause)

In this speech, Ludvig Ceimertz, David Josefsson and Magnus Resare (all M) as well as Erik Hellsborn (SD) agreed.

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! Since we last stood in the chamber and debated, the world has changed fundamentally. The political continental plates have shifted. Sweden faces a new and very serious security policy situation, the rules-based international order is being challenged, and the world economy is in turmoil as trade wars threaten as a result of a right-wing populist economic policy.

The world of yesterday no longer exists. Then Sweden must act powerfully and resolutely. Sweden needs a government that sees the new reality for what it is and is able to act accordingly.

Mr. Speaker! It is about strengthening the broad total defense, the army, the air force and the navy, and supporting our defense industry. But it is also about strengthening healthcare, equipping our transport networks, and building civil preparedness stocks, so that we can cope with the new serious situation.

At the core, we agree on this. It is good for our country that we can hold dialogues between the parties regarding the financing and upgrading of the defense. We Social Democrats are always ready to support the government so that we can jointly take responsibility for the security and safety of Sweden and the Swedish people.

I believe, however, that many of us were surprised when we read the spring budget and the new global situation did not make any greater impression in it. It was a bit like looking into a time capsule from before. In a situation where we quickly need to equip the total defense and prepare for worse economic times, expectations were probably higher, not just from me.

Let me be clear. We Social Democrats are prepared to work both faster and more intensively to be able to quickly strengthen our total defense. Let us, for example, look across the sound and be inspired. There, the Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen and her government moved quickly.

Mr. Speaker! We live in turbulent times. It is clear that a trade-dependent country like ours is hit when the trade war rages. But the starting position for Sweden is worse than it should have been. The growth forecasts are being revised downwards. We are now at the bottom of the EU when it comes to growth. The proportion of Swedes living on benefits and compensations is increasing. Unemployment is high; over half a million Swedes are unemployed, and youth unemployment is closer to 25 percent. And food prices have increased by 25 percent. This hits people's everyday lives directly. Ordinary people who work and do the right thing are finding it increasingly tough.

But this is not a law of nature. It is not predestined that Sweden's economy should develop more weakly than other countries'. It is the result of a flawed economic policy. Point by point, we see that the Tidö parties' economic policy has not been able to protect Sweden and the Swedish people through this crisis. It is becoming increasingly apparent that they lack a common economic idea. This leads to them making wrong priorities.

Just take the fact that Ulf Kristersson and Jimmie Åkesson are making it more expensive for ordinary people to pick up their medicines and that they are cutting back on support for single parents while they give themselves thousands of kronor in tax cuts every month. It is not only unfair and bad for the cohesion in our country; it is also a worthless economic policy in this economic climate.

Mr. Speaker! We need to increase Swedish prosperity. We need an economic policy that does that. I want to see an offensive policy for higher growth, more companies, and more jobs. I want a policy that ensures that investments land in Sweden, that ordinary people get it better in their everyday lives, that the growing prosperity gives ordinary Swedes more money in their pockets, and that the welfare system receives the resources required for us to be secure throughout our lives. That is the only way Sweden can become a richer and stronger country.

(Applause)

Mr. Speaker! The shootings and explosions continue. Places that we have seen as safe – residential areas, schools and workplaces – are being transformed into crime scenes. At the same time, the recruitment into the criminal gangs is creeping further down in age. Since 2022, the number of young people under 15 years old who are involved in murder cases has increased by over 200 percent – 200 percent! It is a horrible development.

It is obvious that we cannot continue with business as usual. Of course, we shall continue to tighten the penalties, recruit more police officers, and expand the justice system, as we have done during the last decade in Sweden. But it is completely obvious that it is not enough. Therefore, we Social Democrats want a Swedish mafia law, so that one can reach the gang leaders who order the murders and the bombings. We must direct full force toward breaking the new recruitment and pinpointing every single guy on the move.

It is obvious that the government lacks policy here. But I have a proposal. You can start with at least a low-hanging fruit: Make it impossible for gang criminals to run HVB homes and use them as a recruitment base. You will receive strong support for that in the chamber.

(Applause)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden is a fantastic country. Not least at this time of year are we reminded of that. We all have the opportunity to enter the 2030s as a stronger, safer, and more just country. This situation requires powerful leadership. We need a government that is not busy bickering, blaming others, and handling its own scandals, but one that can have full focus and use all its power to improve everyday life, increase safety for ordinary Swedes, and make Sweden a richer, safer, and more just country. Our country needs a new direction.

(Applause)

In this speech, Joakim Järrebring (S) agreed.

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden needs a new direction. And that was exactly what Sweden received when the voters had spoken in the last election. It is also the direction that we in the Sverigedemokraterna, together with the government, are now following, and we are following it very loyally. We believe in that direction. We believe that what we are doing now will make our country grow and become safer and more cohesive.

Fuel prices have almost halved. More dangerous people are behind bars, and they stay there for a longer period. Asylum-related immigration has decreased to the lowest levels since they began measuring it about 40 years ago. People who commit the most heinous crimes are deported. And the tap of benefits is turned off for those who refuse to contribute and to adapt.

Mr. Speaker! The list of good things that will just so increase safety, strengthen cohesion and make life easier for people living in Sweden can be very long. This applies in particular to fuel prices.

Not long ago, it was teeming with red-green politicians who did everything they could to raise the price at the pump. In this chamber, a vote was held in the autumn of 2023 on a substantial reduction of the reduction obligation. Our side won by a very small margin. If the red-greens had won such a vote, it would instead have resulted in a sharp increase, a 45 percent reduction obligation for diesel in 2025. That would have meant up to 10 kronor more per liter of diesel instead of the more than 10 kronor less that has been achieved with this side of politics.

The Sweden Democrats, as is well known, were against the reduction obligation even when it was introduced. For us, it was a self-evident matter even then to stand up for a policy that quickly and concretely provided a direct positive impact for large groups in our country, for ordinary wage earners with ordinary incomes and ordinary lives, for entrepreneurs, not least ordinary small business owners, for families with children, for pensioners, for women and men and for the elderly and the young.

Everyone who is dependent on using their car in everyday life, not least in the countryside, deserves politicians who see them and their needs and who facilitate and simplify, not politicians who do their utmost to further complicate and make more expensive. It is, Mr. Speaker, the new direction that Sweden has now embarked upon. That direction, I think, and probably also the government, intends to continue to drive Sweden in.

(Applause)

The last thing Sweden needs, Mr. Speaker, is a return to the direction we saw before the change of power: parties detached from reality that, with political arrogance and systematic missteps, tore open deep wounds and damaged this country as much as they did in so many areas and on so many levels. The last thing Sweden needs is a return to the Social Democratic insecurity policy, the "juice-and-bun" policy, the "pyttipanna" policy, which did not lead to either a stronger society or a stronger and safer Sweden.

What the parties on the left side have to say this time is still very unclear. There is no common thread. There is no common direction of will, even though Magdalena Andersson is very clear that she wants a new direction for Sweden. We do not know what that direction is. We know nothing. We know nothing more than a mass of promises and proposals that point in very different directions. The only thing we know for sure is that their merits are poor and that the parties on the left side have very different views on issues that are completely decisive for Sweden.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, we in the Sweden Democrats and the government continue to drive Sweden in the direction that we were given the confidence to drive Sweden in in the last election. I am absolutely convinced that it will also pay off on election day in a little over a year.

(Applause)

In this speech, Staffan Eklöf, Mikael Eskilandersson, Rashid Farivar, Ann-Christine Frohm, Erik Hellsborn, Patrik Jönsson, Ulf Lindholm, Daniel Persson, Robert Stenkvist, Jimmy Ståhl, Victoria Tiblom, Martin Westmont and Eric Westroth (all SD) agreed.

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

Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! I received an email the other day from Caroline. She works as an assistant and has three children. I really want to thank you for everything you do and have done for us single mothers, she wrote.

She can only afford one meal a day herself at this time. The children have to forgo activities. There will no longer be any ice cream on the beach or any Saturday sweets, and the twelve-year-old cannot keep up with his friends as he did before. It hurts the heart. You become very sad, writes Caroline. And childhood they never get back, the memories that are created when we are small – for my part, it was among other things swimming, figure skating and football, activities that taught me to be a good friend and a team player.

This government is taking childhood away from the children. Ebba Busch lets children go to bed hungry. Children's parties are cancelled. Almost 30 percent have seen food prices rise since Busch waved the falukorv.

We have presented a series of proposals to bring down food prices. But the government and the Sweden Democrats have blocked proposal after proposal. Instead, Labor Market Minister Mats Persson ran off and bought shares in the food giant Axfood on the same day the Finance Minister summoned the food giants. He knew that the Finance Minister would not impose any requirements for lowered prices. And Persson received an immediate increase in the value of his shares. That is how they work.

Just in time for the summer holidays, many families, especially single parents, will lose their housing allowance. The Government and Sverigedemokraterna are raising the fee for medicine by almost 1,000 kronor. The Energy Minister and her agency have raised the electricity grid fees. The warning wave in healthcare turned into a warning storm. The children's groups in the preschools are growing, and the market school causes money to continue draining from the operations.

This government does not want to, do they? The background is simple: Their focus lies on lowering the tax for the very richest by almost 50,000 kronor per person. It is paid for by the single mothers, by pensioners in need of medicine, and by the children in preschool.

Mr. Speaker, Sweden is a strong country. We have high innovative power, large companies established all over the world and a common welfare. We could invest in Sweden, in green energy, in new railways, in increased housing construction, in everyone who lives here in Sweden, in preschool, in research and in the universities. But none of this is being done.

Where are the investments that are supposed to be able to compete with China and the USA in the green industry so that we can manage the climate transition as a wealthier country? It is we who are to build the future. Sweden is a nation with industrial experience, with technical expertise, and with exceptionally good conditions for energy production. The whole world's expectations rest on us, but instead, it is four lost years for the climate transition.

We have half a million unemployed, almost the worst in all of Europe, and 2 percent of the unemployed get access to labor market training – 2 percent. Most do not even get a hold of Arbetsförmedlingen when they contact them. And this autumn, the allowance is lowered drastically. One cannot believe it is true. But Mats Persson is satisfied – a labor market minister with no greater ambitions than trading stocks.

We live in the world's best country, a country built on cohesion and community. But today we have weak leadership with a Prime Minister who cannot manage to hire a security advisor, ministers and state secretaries who only work for their own wallets, a government that does not act against welfare capitalists who suck tax money out of healthcare, and a Sverigedemokratiskt support party that has grown together with the Hells Angels and therefore blocks all proposals to take back welfare from welfare criminals.

Sweden can do better. With a new left-wing government, we can build security, strength, and community so that Caroline's children can get ice cream on the beach this summer. And we in the Vänsterpartiet are ready to do the work.

(Applause)

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden is a fantastic country. But it is also a country where the distance between city and country has never felt greater. It is a gap that is not about kilometers but about opportunities, about being able to get healthcare in time, having an equally good school, and feeling the same security regardless of where in the country one lives.

Those who live in the countryside often pay more in taxes than those who live in urban areas. One pays more but gets less. The geographical injustice must be removed. The Center Party wants to erase it, because it tears Sweden apart. We refuse to accept that it shall continue to be this way. I dare to assert that we are the only party that takes that question seriously.

The government has wasted valuable time by investigating a nationalization of healthcare that no one wants. Instead of solving the problems, they are working for further centralization and bureaucratization through more targeted state grants and micro-management. It is a betrayal of the people who uphold our country every day and of those who ensure that Sweden becomes wealthier through our natural resources but who receive nothing in return.

The Social Democrats are happy to complain about the government but also want to rule Sweden from the top with more power for the state and less for the people, fewer decisions close to people's everyday lives and more directives from Stockholm. That is not a solution. It is the problem.

The Center Party knows that centralization does not work. Does anyone believe that it will be easier to develop the local village if the school there is managed from Stockholm? The probability that the school even gets to remain is low when the ruthless central management determines that an optimal school unit is 500 students. The health center in the neighboring town is closed because it is not resource-efficient in relation to the number of listed patients. What happens to the will to live in the countryside is of no concern to the state's Excel sheets. They only look at the fixed frameworks.

Centerpartiet believes in something else. We believe in a Sweden where you are not punished for choosing to live in Sorsele, Hedemora or Hult, where power is shifted from central bureaucracy to local hands and where entrepreneurship, service and infrastructure are allowed to grow throughout the country, not just in the large cities.

It is not about pitting city against country. It is about justice – about all parts of Sweden having the right to hope for the future. Furthermore, every big city is filled with people like me, country folk who know what it is like back home and who think the same: that everyone should have the same rights.

It is also about Sweden's future, because it is in the countryside that the food is produced that feeds the schoolchildren in both Växjö and Arjeplog. It is here that the forest for the log cabin in both Uppsala and Tranås grows. And it is here that the electricity is produced that lights up the bedside lamp in Umeå as well as in Bengtsfors. To have the same conditions in the countryside as in the city is crucial for the whole country, and the potential is enormous.

Sweden's farmers are the oil sheiks of the future. Everything you can do with oil, you can do with Swedish forest. It is the countryside that has the raw materials to produce the biofuels that power cars, boats, and airplanes. It is these materials that create green plastics, sustainable paints, and new textiles. The opportunities for green growth are enormous. If we take advantage of them, everyone wins, and it is not even difficult.

When others talk, we do the work. We have submitted proposals to make the countryside vibrant again so that people get back money for the natural resources they deliver. We want every decision to be examined based on what it means for all of Sweden, not just for a few blocks in Stockholm. We must spend money on making people want to be part of building this country instead of paying people to move away from our country.

Mr. Speaker! Now it is the turn of the rural areas. The Centre Party has the strength to stand up for the long-term, for that which is built over time, and for those who build this to also receive something in return for what they pay and work for. The Centre Party intends to continue working until everything is resolved so that all of Sweden gets a fair chance.

(Applause)

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

Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! In recent years, quite a few debates have been characterized by expressions such as "We have been naive" and "We did not see it coming." One did not see the migration crisis coming. One was naive regarding the challenges of integration. One did not see the system-threatening progress of gang crime. One was naively uninterested in the laws of physics and in the fact that stable base power is required for an electricity system to function.

If politics is characterized far too much by the next election or short-sightedness, by being reactive, it becomes quite bad. Think if we had chosen a different path for our country earlier. Think if we can choose a different path for Sweden now.

Mr. Speaker! Last week, Sweden's parties were given a new chance to try to think ahead – an opportunity to act now instead of having to act in haste in a predicament in a few years. I am talking about Sweden's healthcare system. It is built on decisions made 160 years ago. But what was good then is a clear problem today.

Last year, Cancerfonden alerted that palliative care in Sweden differs clearly from region to region. It concerns the care one needs when one knows that there is no longer any hope of being able to get well. For example, a patient who needs specialized palliative care, i.e., care in the final stage of life, at home can receive it around the clock in one region but not in the other. Not even in the final stage of life can Sweden manage to give all people the same dignified care. It is said that we are all equal before death. But in Sweden's 21 different regions, we are not even equal before death.

Ulrika Årehed Kågström, the Secretary General of Cancerfonden, has said the following: ”That such an important healthcare effort is allowed to function completely randomly is a betrayal of people in very vulnerable situations and unworthy of a welfare country like Sweden.” She thus uses words such as randomly, a betrayal, and unworthy.

Last week, Svenska Dagbladet reported how cancer patients do not receive care in time because the regions' different medical record systems cannot communicate with each other. This is not about moving power to Stockholm. This is about moving power from regional politicians to the healthcare profession and providing redress for patients.

We Christian Democrats have long argued for a unified state responsibility for healthcare. We are proud that in the Healthcare Responsibility Committee we have outmaneuvered other parties all the way here – all the way to the realization that 21 regions can no longer manage to deliver what is the right of Sweden's patients, healthcare staff, and citizens, and what they can expect. But that is where the committee has stopped in its thinking. Instead, the majority of the parties want to continue to fill the regions with the cronies who have supported them so strongly in this struggle, in the hope of not having to go another round with those of us who have kept our senses.

The basis of the investigation is clear. It was needed for the preparedness and for an equal quality throughout Sweden. Sweden must be able to go all the way to reduce the lack of clarity in a fragmented healthcare system. It is time to see the needs in time and stop being naive.

God knows that Sweden's government and Sweden's Riksdag have tried to organize the regions – invested state billions to shorten the queues, established performance-based state grants, signed cooperation agreements, and heard regional politicians promise that they will benchmark and use best practice. Yet, every regional politician seems convinced that they have best practice in their own region. Yet, the queues do not decrease. Yet, we still do not have a unified medical record system. Yet, the person in the final stage of life cannot be sure of receiving the best possible care. The degree of dignity in the proximity of death seems to depend on one's zip code.

Mr. Speaker! Sweden deserves better. It is up to the parties to explain in the election next year why today's system is better. Choose another way! We can do that already today.

(Applause)

In this speech, Yusuf Aydin, Mathias Bengtsson, Hans Eklind, Cecilia Engström, Dan Hovskär, Ingemar Kihlström and Camilla Rinaldo Miller (all KD) concurred.

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

Daniel Helldén (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden deserves a leadership that sees reality for what it is and takes responsibility for solving the major problems we face. But after nearly three years with this government, we see a pattern: They are failing ordinary people, and they are failing the future.

When families with children struggle to make ends meet, the government chooses to remove the extra housing allowance for families with children. When people fall ill, the government cuts back on the high-cost protection. When climate change becomes increasingly acute, the government dismantles the climate policy bit by bit. And when children are starving in Gaza, the government chooses to withdraw the humanitarian support, which for many is the difference between life and death and a prerequisite for food, water, and a roof over their heads. They turn away their gaze just when people need us the most.

Mr. Speaker! When the evidence is laid out, politics cannot wait until it is too late to stand up for human rights. Let us say it as it is: What Netanyahu is subjecting the population of Gaza to is a genocide.

(Applause)

The government chooses to say almost nothing, and it is unworthy.

This is a government that consistently fails those who have the least and need the most. In that policy is reflected a view of humanity where one makes distinctions between people and people, and where some lives are valued more than others.

We in Miljöpartiet want something else. We believe that responsibility begins with how we see each other in crisis and in everyday life, in Sweden and in the whole world. That is why we fight for a welfare that can be trusted, a just climate transition, and a policy that holds society together and does not divide it.

Mr. Speaker! Over 40 percent of Europe suffers from some form of drought. The situation is particularly acute in southern Europe, where agriculture and water supply are being pushed to the limit. In Sweden, groundwater levels are alarmingly low in large parts of the country, and a rising sea level threatens cities and coastal communities.

The result of the Tidö government's three years in power is the largest increase in emissions in 15 years. The electrification of the transport sector has slowed down. The expansion of renewable electricity has decreased sharply. Sweden is judged to miss all climate goals – 2030, 2040, and 2045. It is a failure.

Mr. Speaker! Sweden is in a serious security policy situation. In times like these, we must strengthen our preparedness and resilience, not weaken them. Climate change poses serious security threats. They threaten both our food supply and our infrastructure. Climate change increases the risk of conflicts and deepened insecurity, both globally and at home.

At the same time, we know that a secure and equal welfare is the foundation for a society that holds together even in a crisis. When the government cuts into the safety nets, they also weaken Sweden's resilience. Therefore, we need to do both. We need to take the climate crisis seriously and invest in welfare. That is what we mean by a just transition. That is how we truly strengthen Sweden.

Mr. Speaker! This development with increased emissions, growing inequalities, and dismantled security is not predestined. It is a matter of purely political decisions, and we can make different ones. Sweden has everything to gain from a rapid and just climate transition. We can get rid of a vulnerable fossil dependency. We can strengthen our competitiveness with Swedish companies at the forefront and technological development. But Ulf Kristersson and the government choose to duck the responsibility and throw away the chance. Miljöpartiet wants to take responsibility.

Mr. Speaker! The government has shown what it wants for Sweden and what it is prepared to sacrifice. We in Miljöpartiet stand for something completely different. We stand for a Sweden that holds together, where climate policy, safety, and security are interconnected, where we invest in the future and where we take responsibility together. It is not too late to choose another path, but it is urgent.

(Applause)

In this speech, Camilla Hansén and Jan Riise (both MP) concurred.

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

Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden and the world look very different today compared to 1998, when I took my seat in the Swedish Parliament. Back then, after at least seven difficult years of budget restructuring, we began to see a brightening in the Swedish economy. With EU membership, hope and prosperity grew. Liberal ideas about freedom with responsibility had strong global tailwinds.

During the time I have been active in politics, Sweden has gone through a number of major crises. There have been global financial crises, regional crises, a number of collapses in the Middle East and a global pandemic, to name a few.

But unfortunately, the geopolitical situation we find ourselves in now is perhaps the most difficult since I entered this chamber. The rules-based world order has been severely suspended, if not thrown overboard, by certain nations. A war is ongoing in Europe. Authoritarian forces are growing stronger. The tariffs of the 19th century are on their way back. Of the world's continents, it is possibly Europe through the EU that has a chance to meet the climate goals. Criminals, separatists, and extremists are taking advantage of Swedish goodwill. States that wish us ill are using our openness against us.

Mr. Speaker! The mandate as party leader has been for me to take responsibility for Sweden and develop liberal answers to societal problems. Much has been done, but as I said, there remains a fair amount to do. The government is now delivering on what we liberals argued for long before many others. It is about nuclear power, language requirements for citizenship, a new social services act, and relevant justice policy. I know that we will achieve success for Sweden on several points.

I look forward to meeting you, Ulf, perhaps when we buy tickets together with euros to a Kent concert – they will also never stop playing. By then, the Moderaterna will have realized that Sweden becomes richer and safer with a common world currency.

Magdalena Andersson and I might perhaps meet by chance as pensioners, in very many years of course, when we pick up grandchildren – not shared, but still – at a school that the state has taken responsibility for in terms of equality once the Social Democrats have realized that municipalization was a mistake.

The Liberals will continue to deliver relevant and realistic answers to difficult societal problems.

School is Sweden's most important campfire. It is the place where generations are equipped for adult life with vocabulary and algebra, and where young people can be vaccinated against extremism and adopt democratic values. That is why the Liberals, now in government, are delivering a knowledge school. We have begun the journey from screen to binder. We are putting a stop to independent schools that do not focus solely on knowledge. The anxiety in the classrooms shall be replaced by study time. With discipline and with respect for the teachers and for each other, all students will become safer and can learn more.

Over the years, one party or the other has promised that it shall become Sweden's new school party. But there is only one school party, and it is called Liberalerna. That has been the case since long ago – since 1842, in fact.

Finally, I want to say something that will please Daniel Helldén: I actually want to see more environmentalists in Sweden. Yes, Ebba, I want to see more Christian Democrats too. To all of you: I want to see more democratic representatives in all parliamentary parties. Preserving the physical outposts of democracy is a common responsibility we have in this country. It is not enough to just talk about how we should safeguard liberal democracy. Someone must do the work. Someone must take the watch. It is more who need to perform their democratic military service in Sweden. We in this chamber have the privilege of doing this full-time. Others set aside half-days, evenings, and weekends and contribute to making Sweden stronger with every municipal council meeting, every committee meeting, and every membership meeting. Thank you to all of you!

Now my time for party leadership debates is over, but my commitment will continue. As a member of Liberalerna, I intend to appear on streets and squares. I might come to one of your homes and knock on the door with a flyer in my hand. I will continue to urge everyone I meet to engage democratically for the Sweden we love. It is a responsibility we share.

(Applause)

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! We live in serious times. In order to strengthen Sweden for the future, we must make large future investments, for example, the largest upgrade of the defense in modern times as well as investments in the police and the correctional services. We must manage integration and secure welfare. It is about new nuclear power with more fossil-free electricity, it is about better roads and railways, and it is about more research and innovation.

All of this is what Sweden needs. None of this comes for free.

In order to afford it, Sweden must become wealthier. Then more people must move from living on benefits to contributing themselves. But the Social Democrats now want us to work less and for more people to be on sick leave and retire early. Their turn to the left would make Sweden poorer, and a poorer Sweden is a more dangerous Sweden.

This raises some important questions. With fewer people working, more people on benefits and an increased immigration, how will the left-wing alternative finance the defense, the police, new roads, railways, the welfare, and the green climate transition? Will ordinary families have to pay higher taxes, just as in controlled Stockholm? Will there be a new property tax? Mortgage tax? Increased tax on savings?

Sweden and the world are in a serious situation. Take it seriously! Now is not the time for political experiments that endanger what has built Sweden strong and wealthy, but now is the time to build a society where everyone contributes and is expected to participate and contribute. Together we can make Sweden truly strong once again.

(Applause)

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! Ulf Kristersson claims that fewer people will live on benefits with the government's policy. The problem is that the result is something completely different. Ulf Kristersson often talks about the work line, but the truth is that during my years as Finance Minister and Prime Minister, the number of people living on compensation systems decreased. Ulf Kristersson has during these years succeeded in reversing that trend so that more people live on compensations and benefits. Unemployment is increasing.

There are obviously two problems with Ulf Kristersson's line of action: the first is that it lacks work, and the second is that the line is going in the wrong direction.

Ulf Kristersson says that fewer people should live on benefits, but it turns out there will be more. What does Ulf Kristersson think the explanation for that could be? Is it the heavy cuts in labor market policy, the phasing out of extra services in welfare, the cuts in adult education, or that the government has driven a construction crisis and more bankruptcies? What does Ulf Kristersson think?

(Applause)

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! The previous Finance Minister discussed his years. Then one has to curiously ask on which budget the government was ruled under during that time. Was it your own budget or the fallen budget? It is always a bit unclear. It is not just that one does not know what policy one gets with your alternative; one does not even know which budget that wins in the Swedish Riksdag. There is a somewhat unclear line in the economic policy.

There was a time when even the Social Democrats realized that the old subsidy line did not work. There was a time when it was realized that we cannot have twice as many people on sick leave as in the rest of the world. There was a time when the policy was changed.

The most serious thing right now is that the Social Democrats are retreating to the old line. The question I have back is therefore: Do you really want this, or is it an adaptation to the Left Party's and the Green Party's contribution line?

It is not an unimportant question. If Sweden is to have the means to do anything with all that you now say you stand behind, for example a stronger defense, then Sweden must work and fewer must live on benefits.

(Applause)

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I truly agree with Kristersson that more must work and fewer must live on benefits. But Ulf Kristersson's policy has, therefore, led to unemployment rising and more people living on benefits. It is, therefore, Ulf Kristersson's policy that leads to a benefit line.

He talks about the work line, but the problem is that it is a work line without jobs, just as the growth policy is a growth policy with worse growth than other countries and the housing policy is a housing policy without housing construction. And now don't come, Ulf Kristersson, and say that this is about the economy being bad. During the eight years that we governed the country, the economy was both good and bad, but the number of people living on benefits still decreased.

Ulf Kristersson did not answer my question. Why is the number of people living on benefits and compensations increasing with Ulf Kristersson's policy? What is Ulf Kristersson's assessment? A tip from the gallery: It is not enough to talk about the work line for more people to get into work!

(Applause)

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! To understand what is happening, we must go back to the fundamentals of the work line. There was, therefore, a time when we had twice as many sick leaves in Sweden. You had actively driven those forward, because you were lax with the benefit systems – both you yourselves and together with your partners.

Then we changed that policy. If one wants to be precise, you were also on board for a while, in the same way as you are now for a while in tougher crime policy – you yourselves, not with your partners. You are on board with the NATO membership – you yourselves, not with your partners. You are on board with the framework – you yourselves, not with your partners.

You pretend that you can pursue the politics that we can put on the table and that you have the right to vote for if you want. That is your contribution to Swedish politics right now. But you would not be able to put any of those proposals on the Riksdag's table yourselves.

Mr. Speaker! It is impossible to escape the fact that unemployment rises in a recession and falls in a boom. That is not the serious problem. The serious thing is the high immigration which has resulted in people, after 16 years in Sweden, not speaking Swedish and not being able to get a job. That is the serious problem.

(Applause)

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

Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! This week, the Adoption Commission presented its results. The human trafficking that has occurred within international adoptions is a trauma for very many involved.

During Ulf Kristersson's time as chairman of the Adoption Center, adoptions from, for example, China doubled, even though children were mediated from several orphanages that had engaged in and been prosecuted for child trafficking. When the abuses were revealed, it was many receiving countries, for example USA and Holland, that acted very quickly.

The previous adoption inquiry wanted to tighten the rules, but Kristersson campaigned very strongly against it. The inquiry now wants Ulf Kristersson to apologize.

I want to ask Ulf Kristersson why he allowed the adoptions, for example from China, to double and continue, despite there being so much evidence of irregularities. In what way does he, as Prime Minister, now take responsibility for this?

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! This is a serious misinterpretation of what has happened – intentional, I understand. It is exactly the kind of thing the Left Party deals with.

I contributed to the appointment of this inquiry a few years ago when information began to emerge that things had not gone correctly in all countries during ongoing international adoption. I contributed to that, and I welcome that an inquiry has been conducted. Today we know much more than we knew twenty years ago.

We receive the investigation with some humility, including some of the investigation's proposals. If one from the Swedish side is to apologize, then to whom and on what exact grounds? All of this are serious questions and not something one throws away just like that.

That this investigation is being conducted is due to the fact that information has gradually emerged from around the world that we did not have at that time. Now we have that information. Do not misuse people's lives in that way!

(Applause)

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

Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! During 2003, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was contacted regarding the scandal that the Adoption Center was involved in, where children had been stolen from dictatorship Chile. This has since been uncovered throughout the world. Instead of getting to the bottom of the issue, however, Ulf Kristersson silenced this. This resembles the situation I mentioned earlier. In 2004, it was reported that at least 76 newborns had been bought from hospitals in China, but Ulf Kristersson did not act on that information. He himself was chairman.

Does Kristersson, in hindsight, based on the information he had and in the capacity he holds now, assess that his actions in some way may have contributed to human trafficking?

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! This is a lie. It is a deliberate lie for political purposes.

Sometimes information has emerged from other countries regarding suspected irregularities. Such signals came from Chile at an early stage, before it became police investigations and legal issues. During my time as chairman of the Adoption Center more than 20 years ago, we looked at whether there was anything in our files that suggested we should have known something. The authorities received exactly the same information.

No Swedish adoption organization has the right to work with any country without the authorities' authorization and decision. That is how it functioned then, because these are illegal matters. Also related to the matter is that it often concerns countries that it is not entirely easy to cooperate with. Therefore, one must always make a balancing act, which is the authority's decision, of whether one can trust a country or whether one cannot trust a country.

I am not at all unfamiliar with the fact that different assessments are made today regarding which countries one can cooperate with than what was done then, but we worked within the framework of the law and within the framework of the authorities' decisions.

(Applause)

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! The security situation in Europe is the most serious since the Second World War. Ukraine is fighting for the freedom of all of Europe, and the discussion is not if Russia is ready to invade a NATO land – that is, not if but when.

Despite this, Europe today sends more money to Russia than to Ukraine by our continued importation of fossil fuels from Putin's regime. Every liter of oil and every cubic meter of gas imported from Russia continues to finance the war. In this situation, Ulf Kristersson's government prioritizes increasing the use of fossil fuels in Sweden by 4 million liters of diesel per day. Do not think that it is only Norwegian North Sea oil that drives Swedish cars on the roads!

How can you defend that we are increasing the funding of the Russian war economy when Ukraine's soldiers are risking their lives for all of Europe's freedom, Ulf Kristersson?

(Applause)

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! This is actually a question that is two-fold. In one question, we completely agree with each other, and in the other question, we do not agree with each other at all.

If you had not been involved in shutting down Swedish nuclear power, we would have had less need for other oil, Rickard Nordin. It is that simple. Oil has only one good quality: It is quite predictable. Everything else is bad about it. You have a personal political responsibility for the phase-out of nuclear power in this country. It was bad policy then, and it is even worse today when one sees what oil also does.

On the other points, we are in complete agreement. If Europe and the USA could agree on further massive economic sanctions against Russia and the countries that still buy Russian shadow fleet oil – including putting pressure on China, which is the country that, more than anything else, enables the Russian war against Ukraine – we could crush the Russian economy. On that point, we agree, and I appreciate that.

(Applause)

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! Oil is not used to electrify Sweden. It has not been used for that for a long time. More nuclear power does not solve the Swedish oil import.

Admittedly, investments in the electrification of the vehicle fleet are good, but it does not reduce Putin's war chest – especially not when the government does the opposite. We thus have a higher tax on pure electricity than on fossil diesel. We have removed the electric car bonus, and after that, the sale of electric cars has plummeted. This goes directly against both climate policy and security policy.

Fossil fuels from Russia have the same taxation as biofuels from Swedish forests. Had we lowered the tax on the Swedish biofuels, more could have fueled with them without it hitting families with children in the countryside. This is a question of prioritization, and the government has prioritized supporting Putin's war chest.

The question remains, Ulf Kristersson: How do you ensure that the flow of money to Russia is stopped?

(Applause)

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! It is a completely incorrect description of what has happened in Sweden.

We began to make ourselves independent of oil, first through hydropower and thereafter through nuclear power, long before we even talked about climate problems – and long, long before we talked about security policy. We did this for many other reasons. Then we decommissioned half of the nuclear power.

How did the Center Party think we were going to electrify transport and industries if we do not have planned electricity for the industries that want to establish themselves in Sweden? It is an incomprehensible policy. Everything that could make us, now for new reasons, completely fossil-free in Sweden, you have systematically opposed, Rickard Nordin. Soon you won't be needed anymore, because others can solve the problem for you. But it is an incomprehensible policy.

Since then, it is even more incomprehensible how you are to conduct that part of your policy concerning entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurs' opportunities in Sweden together with a bunch of Left Party members and Green Party members. You are in the wrong place in Swedish politics.

(Applause)

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

Daniel Helldén (MP)

Mr. Speaker! We see day after day how Gaza's population is starving, fleeing and dying. The need for emergency aid could not be more acute.

The UN and other humanitarian organizations have been crystal clear: To get emergency aid to Gaza's starving population, there is no alternative to UNRWA. UNRWA has 12,000 employees on the ground in Gaza, and the other aid organizations have a total of 600 people on the ground. No one can replace UNRWA's infrastructure. The government's own expert agency draws the same conclusion, and yet the government continues to block the support to UNRWA.

My questions are: What is the Prime Minister basing his assessment on? Why is Sweden taking the lead in legitimizing the ban on UNRWA? Why is Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson playing along with Benjamin Netanyahu's game?

(Applause)

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! First and foremost: The war in Gaza is absolutely terrible. Israel is facing criticism from Sweden and many European countries on very good grounds.

We have now doubled the support to the civilian population in Gaza. There are only four countries in the entire world that give more money than Sweden to the civilian population in Gaza, and we give the money to the organizations that we know can also get the aid through – primarily other UN organizations.

You know all of this fundamentally, Daniel Helldén, but you are looking for something completely different. You are now intentionally whipping up the atmosphere in Sweden and pretending that Sweden is doing nothing for the people who are suffering extremely badly in Gaza. Why do you do that when Sweden is at the forefront of the rest of the world in supporting the civilian population and criticizing the Israeli government for what it is doing?

(Applause)

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

Daniel Helldén (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I would say that the government is at the forefront of trying to remove UNRWA and ensuring that they do not receive their support. You should be doing something else, Ulf Kristersson. That is the central point.

Netanyahu's right-wing government bombs civilians indiscriminately. It actively starves Gaza's population. Aid workers are found in mass graves. Civilians are shot when they go to fetch food. We have heard Israeli ministers call Palestinians human animals and speak about Gaza being completely destroyed. The UN and other human rights organizations have gathered extensive evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

The government has, however, not condemned a single war crime that Israel has committed in Gaza. They hide behind the fact that it is a matter for the court. What responsibility does Ulf Kristersson believe a Swedish Prime Minister has to condemn and act when evidence is presented that gross violations of international law are being committed?

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden has been very critical of what Israel's government is doing right now, together with many other EU countries. That criticism will probably continue to increase if Israel does not change its policy. It is right, and it is true.

The Swedish left would have a bit more credibility in these issues if you also ever chose to direct criticism towards Hamas, those who take hostages and those who now want to bring the conflicts from the Middle East into Swedish streets and squares. There, you are completely silent.

You are silent about the antisemitism that is spreading. You are silent about the terror romanticism that is spreading. You are silent about all the faces that are shown of Hamas leaders at various demonstrations. There, you say nothing.

You crawl for people who want to harm other people. We speak plainly both about Israel and about the danger of terrorists like Hamas.

(Applause)

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I have noted a great interest in Social Democratic policy during the past few weeks. I would like to take this opportunity to tell what I actually want for Sweden.

I want Sweden to have an economic policy that steers towards higher growth so that the business sector gets better conditions, so that investments land in our country and so that people can get into work.

I want Sweden to embrace that we should be far ahead in technological development, not least with the green technology that is now sweeping across the world.

I want us to ensure high quality in school, healthcare, and elderly care by ensuring that resources are adjusted for price increases and that the money does not disappear into the pockets of venture capitalists.

I want us to address the market failures that lead to weak school results, disruption, and disorder in the classrooms.

I want it to be impossible for gang criminals to run HVB homes.

I want us to identify every young guy who is drifting and risks being drawn into the criminal gangs.

I want a Swedish mafia legislation.

I want Sweden to have a strict migration policy and a requirement-based integration policy.

I want Sweden to be a strong voice in the world for international law and that the government lets go of its pride and resumes support for UNRWA so that we can help those suffering in Gaza.

I want us to continue the support for Ukraine's struggle for freedom.

I want all those who have worked a long professional life, who started working directly after high school, to receive a higher pension.

I want us to abolish the unfair quarantine deduction which primarily affected people with lower salaries.

There are those who will want to stick different epithets on this and call it one thing and the other. It is not so important. I know that the Swedish people know that it is about common sense, increased respect for all who work, getting growth started and getting more people into work so that Sweden can become a little more like Sweden.

(Applause)

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! The elderly in Sweden have become increasingly vulnerable over the last decade. It has been about violence, fraud, and telemarketers who are deceived. It is often carried out by gang criminals on the Spanish coast, of all places. We are now doing everything in our power to reach the criminal gangs.

In that situation, the Social Democrats make themselves part of the problem with lottery sellers in Spain who deceive vulnerable elderly people in Sweden out of money. You are said to have had revenues of 141 million kronor in a single year. You have been fined 3 million by a Swedish authority. You still have quite a lot left to pay back.

Magdalena Andersson has so far refused to pay back the money and even refused to apologize to the elderly who have been deceived. Why, Magdalena Andersson?

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! It is a terribly serious development that we are seeing with gang criminals who in various ways deceive our elderly. That is why we Social Democrats want to see a Swedish mafia law that, in a completely different way than today, can reach those who lead these types of gangs. I truly wish that the government would want to appoint such an investigation. We need to have completely different tools to reach the gang leaders.

Regarding the social democratic lotteries, we saw that as soon as inaccuracies were discovered, we immediately stopped the cooperation with the company that did not perform its work. We fired the CEO and the entire board. We have been clear from the beginning. If anyone feels cheated, they can contact the lottery company, and then it will be possible to resolve it.

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

Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! It is not quite the tone that the Social Democrats use against the gang criminals in the HVB sector, one could say. If someone were to feel a bit affected, they could perhaps call some telephone number between 9:00 and 17:00.

It is you who have been fined by a Swedish authority and not a telemarketing company. It is you who have systematically worked in this way. Should the mafia legislation also include the Social Democrats?

(Applause)

These are truly serious matters. One must at least lead by example. Now we have investigated and presented a bill that limits the possibilities of having these types of lotteries for parties, something for which you gave a fast track during your time in power. We also do not rule out banning it.

We cannot have it this way. Above all, we cannot have parties that pretend to speak out against criminals but who themselves cultivate criminals.

(Applause)

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! This is, therefore, Sweden's Prime Minister, the man who said that he would be the adult in the room.

Seriously, Ulf Kristersson: We have enormous problems in Sweden. We have a growth in the EU's bottom line. We have rising unemployment. We have gang criminals who recruit children at HVB homes. We have more and more young people being drawn into gang criminality. We have the longest care queues ever. We have the most serious security policy situation in decades. We have a trade war that is shaking the entire world order.

We Social Democrats take responsibility for our lotteries. What if the Prime Minister took responsibility for Sweden?

(Applause)

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! Magdalena Andersson stands here in the chamber and says that she wants to simplify for the business community. But when I read the Social Democrats' new party program, a completely different picture emerges.

Companies are sometimes highlighted, but often it is in the form of problems in society. The companies are villains and not heroes. Nowhere is the entrepreneur, the contractor, the human being of flesh and blood who creates jobs for others, mentioned.

It is good to have fine words. But the proposals that lift the companies are missing. It is the proposals that can create the growth we need to manage welfare, the climate, and security. We must create more, because through growth the cake becomes larger.

Does Magdalena Andersson hear the cries from the companies? They cannot afford to hire; they are buried under red tape and increased taxes are suffocating their growth potential.

How will the Social Democrats actually make it easier to hire, get more companies to grow and increase our growth?

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you very much for the question, Rickard Nordin! How are we to get more companies to grow and flourish? How are we to get more entrepreneurs to dare to turn their ideas into new companies that can then employ people?

It is about pursuing a completely different growth policy than the one this government is pursuing. Now we have a growth that is at the bottom of the EU's rankings. It is obvious that in this situation we need a growth policy and also a cyclical policy that allows Sweden to be lifted, that we can achieve higher growth and that the wheels start turning again. Then the companies can get a demand – someone who demands their goods and services.

This is the problem with the Tidö parties: They lack a common economic idea and therefore repeatedly make completely wrong decisions regarding the cyclical policy and the structural changes that are needed in the Swedish economy.

We need a new direction, and I believe that the Center Party and we can have many common ideas regarding this.

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! We share the problem picture, Magdalena Andersson. It is completely obvious. This government has not succeeded in the business policy.

We need more investment, innovation, and entrepreneurship. That is also how the state's coffers can be filled to solve the acute problems we have, but also the long-term ones. We see the opportunities. We stand on the side of entrepreneurship. We want a Sweden where one dares to invest, work, and grow.

Magdalena Andersson's words are fine, but I hear no concretization. If one looks at the documents from the Socialdemokraterna, one sees that increased taxes are pointed out as the most important way to strengthen the state's finances.

How does one intend to translate all these fine words about reduced red tape, increased competence, and reduced costs into reality? Which reforms do you intend to present? It echoes hollowly in the Social Democrats' party program.

(Applause)

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I believe it is good to read the guidelines as well, because that is where the concrete proposals are.

One of the parts where the Centre Party, the Social Democrats, and in fact the entire opposition have a clear common idea is that Sweden shall continue to do as we have always done in Sweden, namely become rich by being far ahead in technological development.

Now the whole world is making a green transition, because we must reduce emissions. It is the only way forward. The Swedish business community understood this a long time ago; it is mostly the Tidö parties that want to back down.

Here we have a common idea that we will, of course, continue to support the green transition and ensure that the investments, and thus also the jobs and prosperity, land in Sweden. It is about creating good conditions for the new green industry. It is about investing in housing, in roads and railways, and in labor market training and adult education so that people can also take the jobs that emerge.

I look forward to presenting such a growth policy, preferably together with the Centre Party.

(Applause)

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

Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I wish to continue on the theme of de facto irregularities within the Social Democrats and the risk of more.

Last week, a French report was published regarding how Islamists are attempting to infiltrate politics. In this report, Sweden is mentioned as a hub for the Muslim Brotherhood's activities in Europe. The Social Democrats are pointed out as being particularly interesting for the Muslim Brotherhood to infiltrate and influence.

The Social Democrats unfortunately have a history of ending up on the wrong side of these questions of values. We remember when Magdalena Andersson here in the chamber in tears defended El-Haj, we remember the Malmö Social Democrats' inability to hold the line against antisemitism, and we remember former foreign ministers who do not recognize an antisemitic figure when they see one.

Mr. Speaker! My question to Magdalena Andersson is therefore whether the Social Democrats will take measures to ensure that Islamism does not gain influence in Swedish politics and how the party will respond to the allegations in the French government report.

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! We do not share the image in the French report. We have zero tolerance for all forms of religious extremism in our party. We have zero tolerance for all forms of Islamism. We work actively against this if it were to appear anywhere in our party. We distance ourselves totally from this and, of course, also from antisemitism.

The antisemitism that we have seen blossom in Sweden after October 7 is deeply alarming. Therefore, it is also very unfortunate that the Christian Democrats and the other Tidö parties have chosen to give a fine platform in the Swedish Riksdag to a person who does not believe that Jews can be Swedes.

It was inappropriate when it happened in the autumn of 2022, and it is even more inappropriate now when we see how antisemitism is growing. Can Ebba Busch still say that it was not a good decision in this situation?

(Applause)

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

Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I note that Magdalena Andersson is lowering herself to the level of the sandbox: But you, then! That does not belong here.

When a close ally, a NATO member colleague, and the government of another country whose values we fundamentally share comes forward with such serious accusations, Magdalena Andersson takes it so lightly that she goes down into the sandbox and says: Oh, well then!

Sweden is one of the countries in the world that had the most citizens, new citizens, or persons with residence permits in the country who traveled down to fight for IS. Now it is pointed out that there is a risk of infiltration from political Islamism, and it is dismissed in this way.

I therefore ask the question again: What measures are being taken? I am convinced that we share the struggle to keep things clean. But how, other than through a dismissal and a sandbox rhetoric?

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! Ebba Busch does not seem to share the view that it is important to keep things clean, as she still thinks it is right that a person who does not think that Jews can be Swedes should be given a fine platform in the Swedish Riksdag. That may be worth noting.

Antisemitism, regardless of where it appears, must always be fought. Those who express antisemitism should be shown the door and not be given fine platforms in Sweden's Riksdag.

Regarding the French report, it is being questioned in Sweden. Our assessment is that what is stated there is not correct. We have zero tolerance for Islamism and against religious extremism in our party, because it goes directly against everything we stand for: people's liberation and the right to decide for themselves how they want to live their lives. It is all that religious extremism wants to limit.

(Applause)

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Now it was my turn! I have been involved in about fifty such debates and should have learned to press the button for a reply in time. This time I failed to do so, and it has actually happened once before. I am a bit ashamed and apologize.

Magdalena Andersson said that she and the Social Democrats want very much. One thing that I perceived she did not really speak about, but which she actually wants, is this matter of forcibly mixing the Swedish population.

After having pursued a policy that has created social unrest, cultural and ethnic conflicts, and general chaos in Sweden, one has now hatched the brilliant idea to continue engaging in social engineering on steroids, as someone put it.

For me, this is a completely incomprehensible reasoning. People do not change values and behavior because the ground shifts beneath their feet. I thought we had learned that by this point.

On a deeper level, Mr. Speaker, I think this reveals a rather uncomfortable view of humanity within the Social Democratic Party. The signal being sent to people who have chosen to move to Sweden is that they are to be seen as packages that can be moved around however one likes, depending on where the Social Democratic social engineer thinks they will do the most good. I think it is cynicism at a very high level.

Sweden has free education at a high level. We have a welfare system that maintains a high standard. We are a country that opens up to realize life dreams.

The Swedish people have never ever asked to be forcibly integrated into this totally failed multicultural project, for which all the old parties bear a responsibility to a large extent. I will never ever contribute to the Swedish people being forcibly integrated into this chaos, on the contrary. The chaos shall be fought. Sweden shall once again become safe and cohesive, Mr. Speaker.

(Applause)

In this speech, Pontus Andersson Garpvall, Staffan Eklöf, Rashid Farivar, Erik Hellsborn, Robert Stenkvist, Jimmy Ståhl, Eric Westroth and Leonid Yurkovskiy (all SD) agreed.

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! In Borås lives a single mother named Alexandra. Since the inflation crisis started, she has struggled to make the everyday finances work. Because she is a single parent with children, the extra supplement in the housing allowance is particularly important for her.

With the deterioration that now takes effect on July 1, she will lose up to 1,400 kronor every month. It is the result of the budget that Jimmie Åkesson has presented together with the government parties, the same budget that gave him himself over 3,300 kronor extra per month.

What do you have to say to Alexandra, Jimmie Åkesson? Why is it right that you should get over 3,000 kronor in tax cuts every month while she is to lose 1,400 kronor in housing allowance? In what way does that make Sweden a better country?

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! This is no new debate. We simply – I also think it becomes clear in this debate – have very different views on economic policy. The Social Democrats and the left side of Swedish politics argue that grants, subsidies, and other things are what will build our country strong in the long term, while we have a government side that argues that growth and work are what will build our country strong in the long term. That is precisely why the budget we present looks the way it does.

One can always promise everything to everyone in opposition. However, it does not lead to our country strengthening either competitiveness or growth in the long term, on the contrary. We need a growth-oriented policy based on people working and contributing to the common good to the extent that they can. It is also that policy we are driving together with the government, Mr. Speaker.

(Applause)

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

Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! It sounds as if Jimmie Åkesson means that those who receive this housing supplement, often single mothers, do not contribute to our country. I will say that they struggle and toil with raising their children. They struggle to make the everyday finances work and perhaps have the means to go to the amusement park sometime.

Jimmie Åkesson has led the government for over three years. He has blocked proposals for extra child allowance and abolished the enhanced supplement in the housing allowance. He even makes medicine more expensive by raising the high-cost protection for pharmaceuticals, while giving himself over 3,000 kronor in tax cuts every month – and then he claims that those affected by this do not contribute. It is shameful, Jimmie Åkesson!

(Applause)

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Speaking of the sandbox.

One must be prepared to take responsibility. Magdalena Andersson had eight years to take responsibility. She left behind a chaos that we four parties now need to clean up. That is what is happening.

That we do not present a budget that the Social Democrats consider to be the best is arguably a good grade for the budget we are presenting.

It was not the Social Democrats who won the election. It was not the left side in Sweden who won the election. It was not those who believe that it is primarily subsidies, grants and other things that build our country strong who won the election. It was a new direction for Sweden that won the election. That direction is what we are now striking out on. It will create growth and competitiveness for our country.

I am happy to continue that line, regardless of what Magdalena Andersson thinks. I do not believe that she will ever be satisfied with the economic policy that we are pursuing.

(Applause)

In this speech, Rashid Farivar (SD) agreed.

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

Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! The Sweden Democrats, together with the government, have raised the fee on medicines by almost 1,000 kronor, this in a time when many are in a difficult situation. Unemployment is sky-high and prices have risen to record levels, all because the Sweden Democrats and the government are not doing enough.

One can now read about all those who will be affected by the Sverigedemokraterna increase. Isabelle, who is 18 years old, will have difficulty affording clothes if she is to be able to afford her medicines. Anders will have difficulty affording to pick up his heart medication. PRO has warned that their members will not be able to afford to pick up their medicines.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I want to ask Jimmie Åkesson if he thinks it was right to raise the fee on medicines.

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! In the best of worlds, one can give everything to everyone – nothing costs anything, and everything is just peace and joy. However, that is not how reality looks.

When it comes to medicines, the reality is that medicines are becoming more advanced. They are also becoming increasingly expensive. Costs are skyrocketing. Then, in opposition, of course, especially if one has a left-wing starting point, one can ignore this and continue to give everything to everyone, use borrowed money, and so on. Or one takes responsibility for fundamentally protecting a system that provides a very high subsidy rate to those who need medicines.

This is what it is fundamentally about: to be able to defend the solidarity system we have and not let the costs spiral in the way the left side has done. Otherwise, the system will collapse completely. This is a way to protect the system in the long term and those who are dependent on medicines, Mr. Speaker.

(Applause)

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

Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! The fee has been increased by 1,000 kronor. At the same time, Jimmie Åkesson is lowering the tax for the richest by 47,000 kronor. A small portion of those funds would have been enough to keep the fee on medicines down.

During the previous party leader debate, Jimmie Åkesson said that one must dare to make tough decisions. That was the background to this. I wonder, Mr. Speaker, if it was his own tax cut that he was referring to with tough decisions. Or does he think it is a more reasonable priority that pensioners, the chronically ill, and parents of children with multiple illnesses should be able to get medicine at a reasonable price instead of this enormous tax cut? It would have been enough to just reduce it very little so that the fee would not need to be raised.

Does Jimmie Åkesson think it is right to lower the tax by 47,000 kronor for the richest while at the same time Anders cannot afford to take his heart medication?

(Applause)

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! The Sweden Democrats' tax policy is quite clear. I believe that, first and foremost, it is reasonable to lower taxes for ordinary people with ordinary incomes. Now, the Sweden Democrats are part of a cooperation with three other parties where one has to give and take. That is one thing. But we naturally stand behind the budget that we have jointly negotiated.

The second thing is that in complicated economic times with skyrocketing inflation, recession, and a lot of other unrest in the world, one must dare to pursue a policy that is growth-oriented. That is what this government, with the support of the Sverigedemokraterna, is doing to build Sweden strong in the long term.

In the long term, you do not build a strong Sweden with a fantasy budget that gives everything to everyone and where no one is ever supposed to be affected by anything at all. In our Sweden, it will be a different direction in the long term, and this is what we focus on.

(Applause)

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! To be a nationalist, Jimmie Åkesson is usually rather uninterested in and disengaged from how Swedish companies can produce more in Sweden. But I thought I would give him a chance.

More Swedish food means jobs, entrepreneurship, and security in a tough time. The Centre Party set a number of demands for the government to improve Swedish food production. I can mention a few: We want a new goal for our self-sufficiency, to move from producing 50 percent to producing 80 percent in Sweden. We want to quickly investigate which fees and costs can be lowered within the food chain, and we want to lower the tax burden through an agricultural deduction – which also lowers emissions. We want to halve the number of agricultural inspections, and we want to rebuild emergency stocks for agriculture's efforts and goods.

What does Jimmie Åkesson say? Are these requirements that the Sweden Democrats can also imagine posing to the government, and are you prepared to implement them?

(Applause)

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Is this a negotiation? My impression is nevertheless that the Center Party has said no to even talking with the Sweden Democrats about political issues and negotiating with the Sweden Democrats. Now it seems that requirements are still being made on things we are to implement. I think it is very strange.

(Applause)

If the Centre Party wants to negotiate with the Sweden Democrats, you are more than welcome to do so, Rickard Nordin. I have no problem at all with that, but I do not intend to stand here and negotiate. There are significantly better contexts to do that in, Mr. Speaker.

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! What is relevant is what one wants in Swedish politics, not who one wants it with and how one does it. Here, Jimmie Åkesson obviously has no answers. He does not answer the question: Which of these things does one want to do to reduce the hassle, increase competence, and strengthen Swedish food production?

I mentioned five measures, and I can mention a few more. We know, for example, that this government wants to kick out many of the agricultural workers. There are admittedly exceptions for some, but tractor drivers, animal keepers and others shall be kicked out when the competence is needed here in Sweden.

It is obviously completely empty of proposals. What is relevant is what one wants to do. If one does not want to stand behind the Centerpartiet's proposal, what should one do instead? Obviously, we need more Swedish food production, and that is what I am asking Jimmie Åkesson about. What does one want to do? What pressure does one want to put on the government to solve the issues for real? The Swedish people deserve to know.

(Applause)

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I shall answer seriously in just a moment, but I just want to note that the appointed party leader of the Center Party here in the chamber says the following: What is relevant is what one wants, not who one wants it with. Remember that when we go to the election in a year! This is, therefore, the Center Party's position.

(Applause)

The Sweden Democrats have a long series of ideas on how we can increase food production and self-sufficiency in Sweden. We have sat together in committees that have handled the issues with many common proposals.

We have recently started looking at proposals on differentiated food VAT. One could have a self-sufficiency perspective, that is to say, lowering the VAT primarily on goods that can be produced in Sweden. The Center Party has wanted us to use all agricultural land in Sweden to produce biofuels. I believe that is a poor way to increase the self-sufficiency of food.

(Applause)

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

Daniel Helldén (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Jimmie Åkesson has been clear that he wants to slow down and tear up the climate policy in Sweden and in the EU. But who actually wants to lock the Swedes into a vulnerable fossil dependency? It is well, in principle, only Vladimir Putin and other despots who finance their regimes with oil money.

Europe has pumped more money into Russia's war chest by buying oil and gas than what has been given to Ukraine in economic support. A third of the fossil fuels in Sweden are of unknown origin. Most likely they come directly or indirectly from Russia.

How long does Jimmie Åkesson think it is okay to finance Putin's war of aggression?

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! It is not primarily, or even at all, because of the policy that we together with the government are conducting that the phenomenon has arisen – in some kind of vacuum. This is instead due to the policy that the Green Party together with the Social Democrats have pursued for almost eight years, that is to say a policy where, in some kind of bizarrely strange reasoning about climate policy and fossil independence, they have made us more dependent on burning fossil fuels than we needed to be – because they have dismantled fully functioning planned energy production and electricity production.

It is a bit arrogant of Daniel Helldén to stand here and accuse me of financing Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine. On that, we agree: Sweden supports Ukraine with everything we can, and we will continue to do so. Sweden has directed sanctions against Putin, and on that, we also agree.

(Applause)

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

Daniel Helldén (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Jimmie Åkesson continues to repeat lies about what is happening with energy and nuclear power. As if we had decommissioned it! I would be proud if I had done that. But the lie that the Sverigedemokraterna and other parties continue with is not worthy of the Riksdag.

Just as has been said earlier in the debate, it is not the case that nuclear power has anything to do with oil dependency. It is something completely different. What has happened is that SD's war against the reduction obligation has led to millions more liters of fossil fuels being pumped into Swedish cars, when we could have done something else, and emissions are increasing. But Jimmie Åkesson does not want to talk about that. He has no plan whatsoever for how the Swedes should transition.

Does Jimmie Åkesson think we should continue to finance Russia's war of aggression with the oil that you pump into Swedish cars?

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I have heard the attempts at defense regarding nuclear power so many times. But it is not a lie. If Daniel Helldén claims that it is a lie that Miljöpartiet ensured that nuclear power was phased out, that in itself is a lie. It is quite obvious. At the same time, Daniel Helldén himself says that he would have gladly phased out nuclear power if he could have. In that case, it doesn't matter anyway, because it is still Miljöpartiet's policy that has made us now dependent on completely different energy sources than those that we built the country's prosperity on at one time.

Mr. Speaker! Then there was the question of the reduction obligation, and it would be interesting to get an answer there. Now I will not even ask a rhetorical question to Daniel Helldén because he is not allowed to answer, but I can state that if we had not had a change of power after the election, and Miljöpartiet had continued to have an influence over the fuel policy in our country, diesel would not have cost 15, 16, or 17 kronor today, but instead diesel would have cost 35, 40, or even 50 kronor. The Swedish people would not have appreciated that – I am absolutely convinced of that – but it would have been very bad for our country.

(Applause)

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

Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! It is graduation time. For some, it is life's first; tooth gaps are formed into big smiles when small voices join in Lalehs Goliat. But the graduation takes place against a backdrop of great worry that the world is collapsing. In the book Here was our house – Children's stories from Gaza, 16-year-old Maram describes how an Israeli bomb hits her residential area: My mother found my brother drowned in blood. She tried to pull him away, but could not. Someone tore him from her hands and placed him in a car on top of both young men and children.

The children of Gaza are not allowed to play football, buy sweets or get scraped knees. They are allowed to starve to death or lie trapped under rubble. 16-year-olds should dream about the future, but the majority of children in Gaza wish they were not alive.

The world has failed the Palestinians and failed to uphold international law. It is a betrayal of all humanity. Part of that responsibility lies with the government. Those who can prevent a genocide have a responsibility to act, so do it now! Put pressure on Israel to end the war! Introduce economic sanctions! End all arms trade with Israel! Resume support for UNRWA! Raise your voice! Condemn this despicable killing clearly and explicitly!

It is displacement of people. It is ethnic cleansing. It is genocide. It must come to an end.

(Applause)

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

Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! This year we celebrate 250 years of Jewish life in Sweden. At the same time as we do so, we have unfortunately repeatedly seen how antisemitism has been given room to operate within the Left Party.

I know that in this chamber, Mr. Speaker, one is not allowed to have props, so I thought instead to try to describe the image that has been spread by a Left Party Member of Parliament on social media, which depicts a well-known antisemitic conspiracy theory. It is a Jewish hand on top of another hand that controls its puppets: USA, Germany, Ukraine and the rest of the Western world.

I know that Nooshi Dadgostar is not antisemitic – we share the fight against antisemitism. But I must ask the question: Does Nooshi Dadgostar think the Member of Parliament's image is antisemitic?

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

Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! We can never accept antisemitism or any type of racism in our country. We will act against it. I know that there have been individuals who have spread antisemitic conspiracy theories in the Christian Democrats, and there have been in the Moderates. Some have apologized. Many still have their assignments.

We will do everything we can to combat antisemitism together with our Jewish friends, but the criticism of Israel is not a matter of antisemitism. It is not about identity or faith, but it is about actions. One must not murder children. One must not commit war crimes.

Be so sure: We will always fight antisemitism, and therefore the individual person is excluded. Those who are not excluded are the people that Ebba Busch cooperates with. Let us do something together, Ebba Busch: Kick out those persons in the Sverigedemokraterna who have made antisemitic remarks! Are you prepared to do that?

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

Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I need an answer to the question. Does Nooshi Dadgostar mean that the image that was spread is antisemitic or not? Other objective judges are crystal clear: This is one of the oldest and crudest antisemitic conspiracy theories.

I need to know. Do I have Nooshi Dadgostar before me with enough backbone to call it what it is: antisemitism? If not, we have a problem. If yes, why does the person – this Member of Parliament – still operate under the Left Party's flag here in the chamber? The person is not welcome at the Left Party's group meetings in the Riksdag but is welcome in various other contexts with the party board, as a member.

How can one truly claim to stand firm against antisemitism if one does not condemn the image and call it what it is? This falls on the party leader. And then one welcomes this person to remain in the party. Out with the antisemites!

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

Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! This person is excluded from the political work.

(EBBA BUSCH (KD): But welcome to the party!)

She does not represent Vänsterpartiet. We are acting, Ebba Busch. There is zero acceptance for the type of antisemitism and conspiracy theories that you are quite literally getting into regarding that image. We will never accept it. It spreads antisemitic conspiracy theories. I have pointed this out over and over again. That is why it has had consequences.

I am very glad if Ebba Busch means business with this – that she will also take the fight against people like Oscar Sjöstedt, Björn Söder and several of the Sweden Democrat MPs, who have kicked animals and called them Jews, who have said that Jews cannot be Swedes and who have said that it is okay with Jews as long as they are few, which Jomshof has said. It is completely unacceptable. We can never agree to that antisemitism. I am glad that Ebba Busch will take up the fight against them.

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden used to be a country of innovation, a country of growth, and a country where ideas became companies, companies became jobs, and jobs became the future, but in the Tidö government's Sweden, the momentum has disappeared. The reason is that the politics hesitate, when we should be leading. Who dares to start a future company here when the signals from the government are: Brake, wait – there is nothing to be gained here.

Centerpartiet knows that green growth is the future for Sweden. Reduced emissions can be combined with increased growth. This we proved for decades before the Tidö Government came and transformed both climate policy and business policy into castles of air.

How much must emissions increase before the government is finished with its private climate catastrophe? How far must the rest of the world run away from us before the government realizes what is about to happen? How many bankruptcies and how many unemployed will Sweden have before the government takes the crisis seriously?

The disappointment in the world is great that Sweden has gone from being an example to sitting in the climate policy shame corner. The disappointment in the Swedish business community is extensive over that Ulf Kristersson's government has lost the bourgeois strength to build new. The disappointment around the kitchen tables is widespread over that the Tidögänget has forgotten the work line and does not see all those who have difficulty finding a job to go to.

The government manages but does not dare to look forward. Ideas die, and visions fade when it becomes more expensive to hire, when established staff are pushed out, and when it is complicated to grow as a company. We in Centerpartiet are ready to do the work. We are not content with standing by while Sweden falls behind. If the government cannot manage to do the job, it is time for a new government.

(Applause)

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I listened to Rickard Nordin's first speech when he spoke about the countryside and the possibility of living in the whole country and that there should be the same service and so on regardless of where in the country one lives. I have only one simple question for Rickard Nordin: How does this square with the decommissioning of Sollefteå hospital?

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! It is a perfectly reasonable question. The problem is that we have parties here in the Riksdag that want to centralize even more. That solves no problems.

This is first and foremost a question for the region. It is the region that is responsible for the regional economy, and it is also that which must take responsibility in such a situation. It is clear that one must make the economy balance.

If one had received the money back from the natural resources we have – not least in Sollefteå, of all places – one would have had a completely different economy. But in the Tidö government's Sweden – the government that Jimmie Åkesson supports – they take the money to Stockholm instead. The millions that could have stayed in Sollefteå, from hydropower, wind power, and other energy production, are taken here. It is not strange that it becomes difficult to finance the welfare then. Let the money stay! Then there will be a completely different welfare even in Sollefteå.

(Applause)

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

Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! It is quite fantastic that the Center Party blames the government and the Sweden Democrats for closing a hospital that the Center Party has actively decided to close. It is not a small amount of audacity, I must say.

Then Rickard Nordin speaks about the economy. All serious judges argue that this will become more expensive. For the region, it will be much more expensive in total to close this hospital and centralize, because one needs to invest very much for it to work out.

I understand that there may be different regional needs. I understand that today it is primarily a regional decision, which the Center Party stands behind and has been driving. But to then stand here in the speaker's chair and say that the whole country shall live and that we are prepared to do everything we can so that everyone shall have it equally well regardless of where in the country one lives is hypocrisy at the highest level. I think, Mr. Speaker, that the Center Party should stop being hypocritical and stand for what they actually do, for real.

(Applause)

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! We stand by our policy. We stand for the fact that we want to create opportunities in the whole country. We stand for the fact that there are different regional needs. But then one must also provide different conditions. One must give back what the state takes in today. It is, as we spoke about in the exchange of remarks before, a difference between what one thinks and who one cooperates with.

The problem here is that the Center Party and the Sweden Democrats have completely different policies. When the Center Party wants to give power and resources to the local, the Sweden Democrats and the government want the money to go to Stockholm. It is clear that it is difficult to cooperate when we have completely different policies and one cannot answer what they want to do instead – when one cannot provide the resources needed for the countryside so that the school and the health center can remain and so that there are police who come regardless of where in the country people live. When that policy differs, it is also very difficult to cooperate.

(Applause)

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Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden is our home, the country that we have built with curiosity, hard work, cooperation, and shared values. There are politicians who believe that a good society is primarily about the material – about materialism and life's necessities such as having food in the stomach, money in the wallet, and a roof over one's head. All of this is needed. But without values that hold us together, that home becomes both harsh and cold.

Our common home is now being challenged by gang crime, honor oppression, and parallel societies – by forces that believe that those who shout the loudest and who act threateningly in streets and squares are right. But their division must never become ours. Contradictions that create chaos, conflict, and war there must not be imported here. Sweden cannot afford increased polarization and a lack of dialogue. When war rages in Europe and the war also threatens our country, something else is simply expected of us.

We need to unite around the values that characterize Sweden and make her ours. It is about the sense of community that ensures conflicts stay at a note in the laundry room and that we water the neighbors' flowers during the holidays and train the neighborhood's children in football. We need to strengthen everything that creates trust, community, and respect, even though we may not share the same faith, political conviction, or background. It is this that makes us, in the face of threats of war or crisis, ready to stand at the front and defend what is ours. Sweden is worth defending, and the Swedish values are worth defending.

(Applause)

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Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! Initially, I want to say that it is very good that Jimmie Åkesson brings up Sollefteå Hospital because we have submitted a proposal to save the hospital. I now urge Jimmie Åkesson and preferably also Ebba Busch to vote for our proposal and I expect them to do so. Otherwise, it would be strange to stand here and speak about this.

A functioning healthcare system is the very foundation of society. Those affected by illness should be able to quickly access healthcare and receive the treatments that are needed. But record numbers of healthcare workers have gone on strike across Sweden. The queues are increasing – they have never been as long as they are now. The waiting times have never been as long as they are under the current government. Does Ebba Busch, who promised to shorten the healthcare queues, mean that she has fulfilled her election promise?

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Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I will begin by answering the specific question. I am not Morgan Johansson, that is to say: I will not beat my chest for everything I have done and be satisfied. We will be satisfied when we have solved the problems. Healthcare Sweden is still in crisis when so many patients have to wait illegally long to receive the care they need.

Just take the proposal from Vänsterpartiet: that we should give guarantees here. It is not reasonable that pregnant women are forced to travel very far on dangerous roads to have a safe birth. It is not reasonable that Sollefteå hospital is being closed down. Nooshi Dadgostar now wants the opportunity to, from here, at a national level, guarantee some kind of sensible distance to the nearest hospital. Now it fits, when one has received criticism for having participated in closing down necessary healthcare locally. It is precisely this change, from responsibility in 21 different regions to a national responsibility, that Vänsterpartiet says no to everywhere else.

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

Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! We do not rule in Västernorrland, I would like to inform the Minister of that because she does not seem to know it.

It was Magdalena Andersson's fault that the healthcare queues were so long – that was what Ebba Busch said before the election. It was Magdalena Andersson's fault that food prices were so high. But now after the election, Ebba Busch applies Johan Persson's motto: Now it is something else that matters and everyone else's fault. Ebba Busch has nothing to do with the matter.

No government has taken its hand away from healthcare and withdrawn the state from healthcare as much as this government. You have reduced the commitment, because you have chosen to lower the tax by 70 billion instead of keeping Sollefteå hospital and instead of ensuring that waiting times are reduced. We have had record strike notices in Swedish healthcare. It is about nursing assistants and nurses who need a salary every month to do the job, regardless of who owns the care. Why have you not done more, Ebba Busch?

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

Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! Do not project that kind of political leadership onto me, Nooshi Dadgostar! The misery we have with energy, inflation, fuel, healthcare queues, yes, everything, is your responsibility in Vänsterpartiet and Socialdemokraterna. But I take full responsibility for cleaning up after eight years of red-green rule.

But don't come here and say that it now fits with national responsibility for healthcare in order to save Sollefteå, when you in the Healthcare Responsibility Committee have consistently opposed exactly what would be needed. Don't come and say that you stand on the side of the healthcare workers, when you continue to defend a 160-year-old system that obviously cannot withstand modern healthcare. The experts, not the committee and the political parties, now believe that in area after area there are good reasons for increased state governance – for quality, financing, and preparedness. What else is left? Stop talking – start acting!

(Applause)

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Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! Almost seven years ago, Ebba Busch gained momentum in the debate by starting to talk about nuclear power. It was successful in the debate then and there, but I am sorry to have to say that there are not many who are cheering over it today – especially not the millions of Swedish households who are beginning to understand how expensive the whole thing will become, with increased taxes and increased electricity prices both now and in the foreseeable future. Why is the government not investigating the alternatives to nuclear power that can solve the same thing faster and cheaper?

We in the Center Party have shown that the alternatives – hydropower, combined heat and power, and efficiency – take half as long to implement at a quarter of the cost. Why is no one even looking at solutions before spending hundreds or perhaps thousands of billions on the largest planned economic subsidy in Swedish history, while dumping the cost on the taxpayers?

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

Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! Rickard Nordin has made a very skillful contribution in this debate. I look forward to meeting in more debates in this chamber. But I don't get a feeling in debates when we make large, solid reform proposals. They are based on facts. They are based on physics.

The red-greens were involved in pushing for a shutdown of Barsebäck. There, enormous units of fossil-free baseload power disappeared, which would have made Sweden more robust and secure and which also would have protected us better from high prices from the continent.

Then, there was a fierce push for the decommissioning of Ringhals 1 and Ringhals 2. Once again, it was about the large amounts of fossil-free baseload power that had been needed in the system.

Everything that Rickard Nordin proposes, the government does – everything! We only request one thing: If we are to achieve a competitive, growth-oriented green transition, more base power that is fossil-free is also needed. Can we not cooperate on nuclear power as well, in the same way as we have cooperated when it has concerned district heating, combined heat and power, and energy efficiency?

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

Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! Ebba Busch talks about physics and the laws of physics in the speaker's chair, but it seems that other physical laws apply at the Government Offices than in society at large. Every single referral body says: Look at the alternatives! But the government does not. There are no investigated alternatives to the government's proposal. Does Ebba Busch mean that she has a better grasp of physics than the professors in physical resource theory at Chalmers?

The fact is – and here I quote the government itself – that they do not even believe in their own policy. The government says: An over-reliance on a single mode of production will rather lead to a more expensive system with increased prices and lower competitiveness. It is, therefore, the government's own policy.

Why aren't these things being looked at? Ebba Busch says that it has been done, but there are no investigations. There are no proposals to increase the output of either hydropower or combined heat and power, and there are no efficiency proposals. On the contrary, the goal for energy efficiency has been removed. It will be expensive, terribly expensive.

Who is going to pay, and what will it ultimately cost, Ebba Busch?

(Applause)

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Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! Rickard Nordin is right. It is a damn and cursed lie to read our policy as if it were the Bible. It is completely senseless to have blind faith in a single power source. That is why our motto is "all good forces are needed." That is why we have decided on 70 measures to pave the way for more power production here and now.

That is why we have bought back Öresundsverket. When I took office, I was told that it would not be possible. They said they had looked into it and that it would not be possible. But it is possible, with the right political craftsmanship.

We have decided on 70 measures. It is about paving the way for onshore wind power – what the red-greens failed to do – and getting to the bottom of the defense issue regarding where we can and cannot have offshore wind power.

But nowhere else would one accept that one blasts on with 13,000 megawatts more in installed production capacity but only gets out 340 more in increased available consumption – 13,000 megawatts versus 340. It is physics, and there the Centerpartiet is not strong enough. That is why all good forces were needed, with physics and the citizens at the center.

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Daniel Helldén (MP)

Mr. Speaker! According to a report from the UN-supported body IPC, the entire population of Gaza is now threatened by famine. FAO states that the food intake of the people in Gaza is far below the survival threshold. According to the Red Cross, 96 percent of the residents in Gaza do not have enough food. According to Save the Children, all 1.1 million children in Gaza are dangerously close to famine.

But Kristdemokraternas Member of Parliament Magnus Jacobsson has a different opinion. It is not a fact at all that very many are starving, he says in an interview in Dagens ETC last week. He also means that it is not true that Israel blocks all imports of food and supplies for over two months.

Does Ebba Busch agree with Magnus Jacobsson on this?

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Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! The short answer is no.

Everyone knows that the Christian Democrats are warm supporters of the idea of a two-state solution. It is the only way to a long-term sustainable peace in the Middle East. But it also requires full recognition from the Palestinian people's side. One cannot have a terror sect as a leader, and one cannot have as an expressed goal to wipe out the state of Israel.

With this said, the criticism of Israel's government from me as party leader for Kristdemokraterna and from me as a representative of Sweden's government is now stone-cold. Throughout the spring, Israel's government has refused urgent humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. We can now follow in real-time how children of my own children's age are starving to death and how Israel says no. This must stop. The aid must get through.

(Applause)

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Daniel Helldén (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Then my question is: Does Ebba Busch consider one to be suitable to represent the Christian Democrats in the Riksdag if one spreads disinformation about ongoing famine catastrophes?

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Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! We have been crystal clear that in a situation where people are suffering and where people are dying, one must be extremely careful with what information one presents. That is what I demand of all my Members of Parliament.

What the Swedish government is doing now is to, in all international contexts where Sweden is represented, signal the need for the humanitarian aid to get through. We are one of the five countries in the world that gives absolutely the most to those in distress in Gaza. The great challenge is that it is not reaching them.

We have now taken the initiative and attributed, among other things, to the EU Commission, which seeks support from other countries to obtain sanctions against extremist ministers in the Israeli government to put further pressure on human rights issues and when it concerns that the aid must reach all the way through. We are aware of the facts in the matter and navigate based on this. Everyone must do so.

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! After six years of party leadership debates – the first three I did as a stand-in, so Rickard Nordin had better watch out, because you never know how it ends – I am leaving my role as chairman of the Liberals and thus also the party leadership debates. I will also miss it a little. I'm joking. I will also be leaving the Örebro bench in the Riksdag for others and probably for the last time.

Now it is time for a little thanks. A big thank you to the Speaker and the Speaker's Presidium! A big thank you to the Riksdag's Chamber Office!

Thank you to all the Members of Parliament whom I have met over the years! Some of you who are elected to the Riksdag today were not even born when I started. That says quite a bit about my own age.

I also want to thank all of you in the Riksdag who make the work function for us Members of Parliament, so that we can truly carry out our mandate. I am thinking of everyone in the administration who ensures that the IT support works and who save our emails, of all the security guards, of all the administrative member services, and of the library. I have mentioned the Chamber Office. I am thinking of the group leader conference, Mr. Speaker, and of the room bookings – yes, of all of you who work here.

Many thanks to those of you who have monitored these debates, to you journalists who scrutinize power! I do not always agree with you, but without you, democracy would be significantly worse.

I want to thank all fellow ministers and all employees in the Government Offices and at the Ministry of Education. Thank you for everything you do to reform Swedish school back to a Swedish knowledge school!

I also want to thank all the party leaders, you who step forward and take responsibility for something that is incredibly difficult but incredibly important. You work hard – I know that. You work hard for the Sweden that you love. I do not always think the same as you. Sometimes I have become a bit dizzy from your arguments, but perhaps that is mutual. But I have never doubted your commitment to Sweden.

My only accompaniment is what someone close to me in the family usually says when things heat up: Think about the tone! It matters.

Short and sweet: Thank you for letting me perform my democratic military service with you!

(Applause)

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FÖRSTE VICE TALMANNEN

I must apologize to Daniel Helldén, Miljöpartiet, because it was actually his turn to give a speech. I deeply apologize for this small administrative error on my part.

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Magdalena Andersson (S)

Mr. Speaker! The Social Democrats and the Liberals have historically been able to cooperate for Sweden's best, Johan Pehrson. We have a long history of it. Several of the things that we feel are the cornerstones of this country have our parties fought for together, for example the right to vote and the breakthrough of democracy.

We Social Democrats and Liberals went hand in hand to expand democracy to all citizens. We have also stood together for equality in Sweden. We agreed on a major tax reform that secured the funding of the welfare system and made the tax system simpler for wage earners and companies.

In the autumn of 2018, our two parties, together with others, took responsibility for the most complicated parliamentary situation we have faced in a long time. It has been important for our country. And Johan Pehrson's cheerful mood has contributed a lot within the party leadership circle.

But now you have the opportunity to devote yourself to something other than political negotiations and debates, Johan Pehrson. You get more time for family and for doing all those things that the role of party leader does not always allow for. One such thing is to develop yourself and learn new things.

We Social Democrats, just like the Liberals, are inspired by lifelong learning, not least when it comes to popular education, even though it has been a bit hit and miss with popular education in recent years. But, in any case: Now you, Johan Pehrson, have more time for further education. I know that you do a lot of woodworking and painting on the house at home, and I know that you value education. My gift to you is a study circle at ABF in Örebro, which has a wide range of offerings. It is everything from creating in different materials to painting. Here you go, Johan Pehrson!

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, dear Magdalena Andersson!

I shall make very good use of this. One should avoid going in circles, but one should truly go in a study circle. There are also many "friendship circles," as it is called in study association Swedish. Some of them perhaps do not always contribute so much to education. But being able to take care of a small house and learning more about this is a part of the Swedish folk soul. Thank you very much!

(Applause)

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Jimmie Åkesson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! This matter regarding the euro – shall we talk a bit about it?

(JOHAN PEHRSON (L): Yes, finally!)

No, we'll ignore that today, I feel. We can take it at another occasion.

This is a bit sad, I think. Johan Pehrson has been an icon in this house and also in other houses around here for a very long time. He has a very long career, one could say, in the service of democracy behind him.

Not least in recent years, we have had reason to talk a lot with each other and take responsibility for the country. We have not always been completely in agreement on everything, but we have managed to reach an agreement on very much, and I think that is very good.

Johan Pehrson has been cheerful and knowledgeable. He has added positive energy in a way that one perhaps does not normally see associated with politics and political leadership. He is really not a boring politician, on the contrary. I think that is very good. I have placed very great value on that and on our conversations.

I have brought with me a small book, which I believe Johan Pehrson has already read, regarding this matter of having been involved in politics for a long time and so on. It is the book Surrounded by Idiots. This can certainly be interpreted in different ways. What I mean by that, Johan Pehrson can reflect on now that he has the time to do so.

Many thanks, Johan! We will surely see each other in some way ahead.

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! My short reply to Jimmie Åkesson is: We are a wonderful collection here in this room. All directions of opinion are present here. My God, how different it seems here in! But we have a mission to guard and protect democracy and to reach agreements together. One must give, and one must take. It does not mean that we are to think alike.

Then I think we need to bring in this matter of tone, as I said up there in the rostrum before I almost started crying. It is important that one reflects on that. We do this for Sweden, and one must be able to distinguish between the issue and the person.

I also look forward to you being able to buy new books. He has written others; it is not only idiots he has written about. I am thinking of the euro, as said. Thanks, Jimmie!

(Applause)

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Statsministern Ulf Kristersson (M)

Mr. Speaker! I have had the privilege of saying thank you and farewell to you, Johan, in the government circle earlier. I nevertheless want to briefly say a few words also in this chamber, which you have spent so much time in. You have fulfilled your military service with distinction. That is something to be proud of.

I want to say three short things.

The first thing is that you ensured that a calculated party came back in good spirits, cleared the parliamentary threshold, and achieved much more than that. You anchored your party securely in the government that we work in together for another period.

The second thing is that you are a convinced liberal, a firm convinced liberal, who understands that one must be able to talk to others if one is to get anything done. Most of us do not have a majority of our own. If one wants to get anything done, one must get a little dirty in the political craft. If one cannot manage that, one is a windbag. You have managed it, and I value that greatly.

The third is that you have done what is perhaps the greatest responsibility of a leadership role. You have chosen skilled colleagues and skilled ministers who think of the team before the self. I also appreciate that, and I believe I will continue to appreciate it even after you have left the government.

You will also receive books from me. Actually, you were supposed to receive one book, but since I do not know if you have read the two that came before that book, you get all three.

This book is not about geopolitics or national economy. There are no memoranda in it. It is Swedish contemporary literature. It is Lena Andersson's latest book about Ester Nilsson. It is a fantastic portrayal that can be read for generations. One can read it with one's children and in one's family, and there is so much to experience in this.

For safety's sake, you therefore get all three books. You have surely read the first two, but I don't think you have read the latest one.

Thank you very much, Johan! All the best in the future!

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Ulf, for these important books, which are incredibly interesting! I will pass the latest one on.

You mentioned skilled employees, which I think we have. A character in the latest book by Lena Andersson is a State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Douglas Fett. He is a man of character who does not let himself be swept away. He has a bit of difficulty reading women; it is something that I hope I do not have myself.

I will read them again, especially the first ones. This is contemporary literature that deals quite a bit with life, the meaning of life, what we seek and what our task is when we make our short journey here on earth.

(Applause)

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Nooshi Dadgostar (V)

Mr. Speaker! I have told you this before, Johan: I do not think you should stop.

(JOHAN PEHRSON (L): Okay then!)

I know your wife doesn't agree, but I think it's very sad that you are leaving. You are a funny person, Johan – a person with self-distance who is yourself. I have really appreciated that you have been part of the party leadership circle, and I don't really know what I'm going to do now when it comes to cracking jokes and talking about things. It's going to be a bit of an identity crisis for me. I have to find someone else funny – you have to put forward someone fun.

I asked my members of parliament what I should say about you when I arrived here. They said that you are very tall.

(JOHAN PEHRSON (L): Correct!)

It is not just me who thinks so. We are perhaps the party leaders who differ most in that regard.

You have done so much. You have been group leader, Minister for Employment, and Member of Parliament. Now you are Minister for Education; Pehrson and Persson switched places. It is not that strange, and perhaps you will return in a new role – who knows? You seem to appear all the time.

When you entered the Riksdag, David and Victoria Beckham had just met. In the state-of-the-art mp3 players, Céline Dion's My heart will go on was playing. I therefore understand that you want to do something else; it is not so strange that you feel that way.

When one follows the government and you as a minister in the media, one feels that there is another pulsating interest there. It is shares that you actually want to deal with, and now you can deal with that full-time, or perhaps a bit more. I want to take the opportunity to give you, a person who wants to go from screen to folder, a book about your favorite interest. It is called Vägen till vinnande aktier. I think you can benefit from it. I have looked through it a bit, and it doesn't say that much about Betsson or Snapchat. It is those you have, right? I still think you can benefit from this in the future.

Thank you for everything, Johan! I know that you will do much in the future as well. Have a wonderful and fantastic time! Good luck with everything!

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! I will call Nooshi at inappropriate times and read aloud from this book about how prosperity is created and how, with a strong business sector, we get the conditions to finance what we consider important, whether it is defense, the police, care for my elderly mother and father who need help in healthcare, or whatever it is. That is how you put a society together. It is a matter of nurturing the prosperity-creating forces. I also urge Nooshi Dadgostar to buy a small share, even though it might be unwelcome if one wants everything to be owned collectively.

Thank you, please Nooshi! We will see each other again – I promise!

(Applause)

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Rickard Nordin (C)

Mr. Speaker! You have approximately 20 parliamentary years behind you, Johan – maybe a few more. I have approximately 15. Still, this is the first time we meet in a chamber debate here in the Swedish Riksdag. Just when the fun begins, it ends. My first contribution in a debate with you will also be a farewell; it feels incredibly sad.

I and the Center Party want to thank you for your long service in the service of liberalism, not least. We want to extend a warm and heartfelt congratulations on what you will now embark upon. You, if anyone, have truly earned more freedom.

As a freer man, you will have more time left over. You have obviously received a number of books from our colleagues. You won't have to carry much more, even though knowledge is easy to carry, but I want to give you more books than that. This reading tablet holds 24,000 books. When you are finished with them, you will probably have fallen off the end of your rope; perhaps we all have! It is also environmentally friendly manufactured, in pure centermanér. It can be repaired so that it can be used for many years to come.

Thank you, Johan, for your democratic contribution and for your efforts in the service of liberalism!

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Then I must move from folder to screen; it will be a bit of back and forth. To be liberal is to be divided, some say. How should one deal with digitalization? How should one deal with the books? I promise that I now have an expanded library at home.

I am in favor of computers. I want Sweden to have the best system designers and the best programmers. We shall own AI, but it begins with reading a book in first grade and with being able to read when one leaves ninth grade.

I hope that I, as a reasonably adult person, will manage to balance this in a wise way – otherwise, I will call Rickard Nordin and get some tips along the way. Thanks, Rickard Nordin!

(Applause)

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Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)

Mr. Speaker! You look excited, Johan, but I think you would be even more excited if you knew what was in the package I have here! I shall tell you soon.

Three years and a lifetime, it feels like. During these three years, we have given Sweden a new start, Johan – a new start for Sweden. Together, we have launched the largest research and innovation proposal ever. Together, we have tackled the honor oppression, even though we are far from finished. We have lowered taxes so that it pays off better to both work and study. We have also begun the reorganization from screen to folder.

We have shared quite a few unforgettable moments. I am actually unsure whether those moments will be mentioned in any of our biographies, if we now decide to write any such. On the other hand, I am sure that we have written political history with reforms that stand the test of time. It is something to be proud of after such a long political conscription.

I often speak in various contexts about having different hats, for example, the party leader hat and the energy minister hat. They are used in all sorts of different functions. Today, I would like to say something about your hats and mandates.

I have met the Örebro resident Johan at all times and all occasions, I might say. Dear people of Örebro! What an Örebro resident you have had – if only you knew! Even in the context of NATO, he has been the Örebro resident Johan. He has also been the lawyer Johan, the entrepreneur Johan, the Member of Parliament Johan, and the Minister Johan.

But it is quite obvious that there are certain missions that are more important to you than others: the friend Johan, the father Johan, and the husband Johan. At some point we took a break and bought sausages in our evening gowns – you didn't have an evening gown then, of course, but you certainly would have looked nice in one too. It was at least some Nobel evening when I promised that if you didn't free up for Marie, I would do it. It was nice that you succeeded in the matter!

I hope that you will get much more time for the assignments that truly matter. I also know that you will do them really, really well.

In conclusion, I want to say thank you for all the interpersonal aspects, which several of my colleagues have touched upon. This is at times a rather inhuman working environment, and you have provided the humane side. Thank you for that!

It will be a gift from the Christian Democrats in the form of a student kit via Unicef. More children will be able to go to school. The kit is sufficient for a backpack, water purification tablets, school books, notebooks and other items. Then there is also a special small gift from me here. It is four A's, which do not start with Ö, that start with A, as a small memory of those unforgettable moments that have written political history.

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Among all the people one has met in politics, there are some who stand out with warmth and passion. You are one of them, Ebba. We have really not always agreed, but I am incredibly happy to have worked together with you during these years and before that to stand guard over important values and over how one creates prosperity. To nurture those prosperity-creating forces is something that the Liberals have talked about for over a hundred years.

To make money, whether gifted or ungifted, is not difficult. But when we have considered how to create prosperity for the future, we have most often gone hand in hand.

I also want to thank you for all the conversations about life's great challenges that we have had. I have appreciated them very much, and they can continue a bit.

It was good – perfect – that I managed to free up for Marie first!

(Applause)

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Daniel Helldén (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Johan – otherwise, one is not allowed to use just first names in the chamber, but it is nice to be able to do so on such an occasion. You did go before me in the debate, and I intend to skip my final speech so that you can avoid hearing about the dismantling of climate policy and so on. You can leave here with a brighter picture.

I am wondering what we have in common apart from the party leadership. I have always respected the Liberals. You live in Örebro. I have a background in Örebro. That feels good. I thought that there might be more things one can develop.

At the beginning of the parliamentary term, you stepped into a castle. You came out with a Tidö Agreement. It may not have been the best thing the Liberals have done or that you have done. But that is how it is. You have worked with it for three years, and now you are going to do something else. I don't really know what.

You are going to get a book from Miljöpartiet and me. It is an interest of mine and one that I thought you could delve into: So are cottages & farms renovated. Now you can leave Tidö Palace behind and perhaps rehabilitate a bit of the Swedish folkhemmet when you leave the Riksdag.

I have not been a party leader – or a spokesperson – for that long, but it has always been fun to debate with you. I was pleased every time your cheerfulness was there and enjoyed your way of talking politics.

Many thanks, Johan, and good luck!

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! I shall not dwell for too long on political history, which parties in this chamber emanate from the Liberals and what has occurred throughout history. Perhaps someone is going to catch a train at six o'clock this evening or something. But the Green Party was formed once because it was thought that the People's Party, the Liberals, were moving a bit too slowly. There are also other parties that have been formed because it was thought that there was something wrong with the Liberals. It has consisted a little bit. It is not all liberals who are completely in agreement about everything all the time. Perhaps you have noted that.

I am very happy with this book. It will come into use. I am actually a bit obsessed, but not as much with stocks as Nooshi Dadgostar thinks. On the other hand, I sometimes find myself sitting in front of the screen against my will. It happens to me too, an older man. I am obsessed with abandoned farms and houses that people take on. It can be a mission, to find an abandoned house and ensure that you get title deed on it in a legal way. It is appropriate. I might renovate one such house. Reuse is quite good.

(DANIEL HELLDÉN (MP): Do that and I will gladly step up and help you.)

It is good. You can take the weathervanes.

(Applause)

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FÖRSTE VICE TALMANNEN

I once again ask Daniel Helldén, Miljöpartiet, for an apology for my administrative lapse which deprived him of his speech. He has, as you heard, waived holding it now.

We thank all participating party leaders for their efforts.

The party debate was hereby concluded.

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