Published: Less than 20 min ago
VÄSTERÅS. December’s record-high electricity prices have resulted in sky-high invoices that make many small business owners sweat.
Labor market minister Johan Pehrson (L) wants to see a tax reduction on electricity to avoid future electricity subsidies.
– It is now time to deal with December’s bill, which is quite fat and tough, not least for companies and private individuals. This could certainly have been done better, he says.
Jonas Kaya, 40, who is responsible for Aro’s pizzeria in Västerås, thought it was a joke when he was asked if Labor Market Minister Johan Pehrson (L) could visit him.
The visit is the first in a tour where Pehrson will visit small business owners around Sweden, above all in the industries where many get their first job.
– I had to read up a bit about him. But I think he seems to be a very handsome guy, says Jonas Kaya.
PLUS: The electricity subsidy jungle – here are the winners and losers
After signing in at the staff locker and washing his hands, on Monday it was time for Johan Pehrson to stand behind the counter and try to bake a capricciosa.
– I’m good at eating pizza, anyway, but not as good at cooking, he says.
Pehrson throws the pizza dough into the air, spins. This type of meeting is Johan Pehrson’s specialty – something that was even highlighted as a fundamental factor in why the Liberals made it past the four percent barrier in the election. The election analysis group called the final sprint a heroic pick-up – and that the so-called “guy-at-the-grill” element highlighted Pehrson’s positive qualities as a party leader.
Are you worried that people won’t take you seriously?
– Politicians who have achieved quite a lot of success have shown confidence in being open, sometimes being able to keep a strong distance from themselves – read humour. It has not prevented a success. Politicians are not, by definition, made to be bureaucrats.
Want to reduce tax on electricity
Last week, the electricity bills for December arrived, a month in which electricity prices once again broke records, and now many companies are sweating before the due date of the invoices.
– We announced that it would come in November, then some say that it would come to your and my account in November. I didn’t really perceive it that way, but I understand that others perceived it that way, says Pehrson.
In the long term, Johan Pehrson wants to review the possibility of lowering the tax on electricity production instead of various subsidies being paid out.
– We cannot repeatedly continue with these packages, neither the previous government’s package nor our current package. We have to look at the electricity taxes as a whole in the long term.
The support for the companies will come in February, but when Pehrson looks in the rearview mirror, he thinks things could have been done differently.
– It is now time to pay December’s bill, which is quite fat and tough, not least for companies and private individuals. This could certainly have been done better – but we promised electricity support that would be linked to people’s actual consumption.
Under the barrage
Today, the Liberals cannot get over the parliamentary barrier. According to the latest survey from Aftonbladet/Demoskop, the party has lost more than a full percentage point, and is now at 3.4 percent. A development that Johan Pehrson hopes to reverse.
– There are a lot of people who say that everything the government does is wrong, and that it is too little and too slow. The opposition, I want to emphasize, says Johan Pehrson.
PLUS: The electricity subsidy jungle – here are the winners and losers
Soon 100 days have passed with the new government. This means that it has almost been 100 days since the Liberals entered into a collaboration with the Sweden Democrats. A wound that has not yet healed, at the latest last week Roger Klerestam, chairman of L in Sölvesborg municipality, left the party with reference to the Tidö agreement.
– I believe that the Liberals have lost focus on liberalism and have become the trailer of right-wing populism, he said Southeast.
“Formulations that are quite strong”
But generally there is a great understanding of the party’s choice of path, claims Pehrson. Today, the Tidö parties meet regularly to vote on investigations and proposals.
– Me and Jimmie Åkesson meet regularly. Now we last saw each other before Christmas at the latest, to discuss long-term issues, what should we do. We can talk about anything.
Where do your red lines go against the Sweden Democrats?
– We must make Sweden safer and freer. We have been clear that we must protect the free culture and that we must keep an arm’s length distance. If you come up with something else – yes, it’s completely unthinkable.
He touches on the positive aspects of the Tidö Agreement, such as the constitutional protection of abortion. All that is to reinforce what the Liberals think is important.
– In some area they (Sweden Democrats eds note) may be going too far. After all, we had such a central question when we settled on migration. We were clear before the election: we must have reduced immigration. But I think you have formulations that are quite strong.
Johan Pehrson ends his internship by collecting the dishes. At one of the tables sits Seyde Kaya, 29, who ordered the capricciosa from him.
– It is one of the best pizzas I have eaten in my entire life. Perfect thickness, perfect edges, she says.