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– Bent Høie claims that yesterday he clarified this for me, but it is not correct. He sent me an SMS and asked if the decision could be understood so that the municipalities could decide. I confirmed that municipal self-government is a good thing, says FRP leader Siv Jensen, before adding:
– but I confirmed no that the proposal was like understanding that the entire national ban on alcoholic beverages could be lifted.
– What did you answer Høie?
– “Municipal discretion is a nice thing,” was all I wrote.
Yesterday afternoon and evening there was total confusion when the parliamentary majority, surprisingly even for the proponent Siv Jensen, asked the government to ensure that municipalities with “low infection pressure should be able to allow alcohol service in relation to food service “.
Here the alcohol service opens
– Stranger from Høie
As is well known, the government must follow up on the Storting’s decision, but Høie first needed clarification from Siv Jensen on what the proposal really means.
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After Jensen’s SMS reply, it ended up that the entire ban on alcoholic beverages in all municipalities was lifted. Now it is up to each municipality to decide.
But according to Siv Jensen, there was never a need to lift the ban on alcoholic beverages based on the Storting’s decision.
– That’s not what the Storting asked you to do. The Storting asked them to make arrangements so they could be opened to serve in relation to food service in municipalities with low infection pressure, Jensen says.
– Are you surprised that the government has chosen to open up completely?
– I think it is a strange procedure on the part of the Minister of Health. I never told him that the decision was like understanding that one had to lift the entire ban on alcoholic beverages, says Jensen.
Already last night, it was clear that the government’s interpretation of the Storting’s decision will give a boost not only in municipalities with “low contagion pressure” and not only for food service.
What is low?
Amta. Did not report that Nesodden is among the municipalities now open for refreshments until midnight.
– We have had an ongoing dialogue with restaurants throughout the fall. “We have had a good collaboration and I am impressed by how welcoming and willing to adapt to restaurants,” says Mayor Truls Wickholm (Labor) to local newspapers.
Nesodden has had more than 200 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days, just below Oslo’s infection rate of 250. Trondheim has also been open for drinking, the municipality has an infection rate of 100.
– The proposal tried to make it easier for municipalities to exercise discretion where the infection pressure is very low. It would have been entirely possible for the government to lead the municipalities, says Siv Jensen.
– «Low», write in the proposal. 200, like Nesodden, it’s not short, is it?
– I will not go in and be responsible for infection control when handling this. I am interested in facilitating the variation, because there is a difference between Oslo and the municipalities that have almost no infection. The Storting has the right to facilitate, says Jensen.
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– Nesodden is almost in the Oslo infection, so this is a consequence of the government’s interpretation, not yours?
– The fact that the government decided to lift the entire ban on alcoholic beverages is the reason why one has different interpretations of this. The Storting never asked for it. I do not think that the Health Minister should be held responsible for new outbreaks in the Storting when the Storting has never done the same with the government. Nor do I think it should be presented as if other measures could be repealed. The decision in the Storting was on municipalities with low infection and that provide services in relation to food service, says Jensen.
Cancel the pour stop
Height: – The correct way
Health Minister Bent Høie disagrees with Siv Jensen when she says that the government’s decision yesterday went beyond what the parliamentary majority wanted.
He believes that yesterday’s SMS exchange was ready, but needed to speak to Siv Jensen after his remarks to Dagbladet today.
– Now I just got off the phone with Siv and he confirms that this was the right way to do it. “This is the same thing I sensed that we agreed yesterday,” Høie tells Dagbladet.
Høie believes that it would have been very demanding to have implemented the Storting’s decision differently, in which case all municipalities with low infection would have had to make a decision.
– It would make it more demanding for municipalities and very different from what the Infection Control Law, the Alcohol Law and the covid-19 regulations provide. I’m glad that she, as a proponent, confirmed that this was the best way to implement this in the aftermath, says Høie.
Now it is feared that the sum of the measurements is too small in relation to the total infection pressure. Norway set a record last week for positive tests.
– There may be other measures that we should retain in the future. This will be implemented from this weekend, but we will only see the effect in two weeks, says the Minister of Health.
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Siv: – No problems
Siv Jensen says he has no need to undergo oral surgery against Bent Høie:
– I have no problem with the government lifting the ban on drinking. What is important here is that municipalities now have the opportunity to conduct discretionary assessments in their own municipality depending on the pressure of infection.
– The reaction of Frp and others has not been to lift the ban, but rather the claims that we must take responsibility for any infection that flourishes and that may affect the tail of what opens in society later, says Jensen.
