January 15th, 2022

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We seem to be getting there (photo: Pixabay)

There’s more light in the day and the Danes are not afraid of the pandemic anymore. 

Springtime for victors?
Although the Omicron virus is everywhere right now, it seems as though the hospitals are dealing with the upsurge of patients. The general consensus is that in a month or two we will be back to almost normal, albeit with fewer hugs and handshakes.

We will all get the virus from time to time, but vaccinations and herd immunity will reduce corona to the level of a pre-pandemic flu.  A yearly jab or a few days in bed, but no huge jump in the mortality rate. 

However, that is the Danish forecast. Worldwide, while panic restrictions will reduce our appetite to travel, we must continue to support efforts to vaccinate or risk another mutation. The Greek alphabet has many unused letters. 

Springtime for switchers?
A political springtime is also on the cards thanks to an admission from Radiale leader Sofie Carsten Nielsen that she will not again support a one-party government, red or blue! 

While this does not mean her party will stop supporting the PM’s Socialdemokratiet government today, her statement will give hope to the blue bloc, less than two years before the next general election.

Expect the government to react to Nielsen’s proclamation, in which she entertained the possibility of supporting a government containing Konservative and SF, or Ventre and Socialdemokratiet. 

The PM might very well go back on her New Year promise to reform welfare for the elderly if it maintains the current red bloc majority. Besides, her plans would require an awful lot of non-EU workers, which will be met by the resistance of the unions, the traditional power base of the PM’s party. 

We will see it before we believe it.

Springtime for emitters?
The PM, meanwhile, has also announced a new tax concerning CO2 emissions, but how exactly this materialises remains to be seen. No doubt, it will impact everybody and therefore everybody will try their best to avoid it and let it come down heavy on somebody else. 

The emitter pays, she said, but we all emit. If industry is required to pay, it will mean a hefty loss of jobs; if consumers are required to pay, it means yellow vests.

Pursuing the policy this springtime will make it feel hotter than global warming, so the legislation will probably be postponed until after the election.

Springtime for glitter!
The same can’t be done regarding Her Majesty’s 50-year anniversary as regent. 

More popular than ever, we must not put off the celebration.

There is light in the tunnel – and this time it’s not an oncoming train.