Mitchell Anderson compares and contrasts the economic and social development of Norway and the UK, two countries which benefitted from North Sea oil wealth windfalls from the 1970's onwards:
'Thirty-five years after she swept to power as British prime minister, it is ironic that socialist Norway now has
$830 billion in the bank and enjoys fully funded social programs that most of us can only dream of. Meanwhile the U.K. is enduring another round of wrenching austerity and owes over
£1.3 trillion - about US$2.2 trillion. That massive debt grows by about $3.8 billion each week, while every seven days Norway adds another billion dollars to their bank account'
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2014/03/10/Thatcherism-Verdict/
Over 30,000 Norwegian public sector workers are taking strike action over pay for the first time since 1984. Central and local government services including schools and prisons were disrupted across Norway. The unions, who are seeking pay rises of more than 4%, are now preparing to escalate the action to the rest of Norway’s 600.000 strong public sector workforce:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18188917
'Contrast the reaction of David Cameron to rioting and looting with that of the Norwegian Prime Minister in the immediate aftermath of their recent bombing and massacre'. writes Andy Stankard: "I am currently reading ‘The Tories’ by Alan Clark, the former, (and deceased), Tory cabinet Minister under Thatcher and historian. The book covers the history of the Tories from the turn of the last century up until 1997 when Labour swept them from office.
As a salutary reminder of the horrors still denied by the far right the Sefton Holocaust Memorial Project has now put the 90 minute documentary on the life of Holocaust Survivor Arek Hersh free to watch on the internet at
http://www.arekmovie.com/
We are all, rightly, Norwegian today. The inhumanity of the events is overwhelming - only tempered by the humanity of the collective response.
