Norwegian mood

Published on 29/09/2012 00:00

IT’S reasonably clear what Bill Jamieson (Perspective, 27 September) doesn’t want – higher taxes or fewer benefits for the well-off minority – but his column left me with no idea of what he does want, which is particularly surprising given his preoccupation with “deficit and debt”.

Far from being a “model of social democracy”, ours is a very unequal society. Mr Jamieson doesn’t want to give the time of day to some modest proposals to make it slightly fairer.

It’s a pity he makes no mention of those countries which are true social democracies, such as our neighbour Norway.

Norwegians are much more prosperous than we are, as well as (and this is no coincidence) more equal and with far fewer social problems. They have achieved a consensus that the prejudice behind “we are all going to have to pay more” is unacceptable, as is the systematic grossly unreasonable sharing out of society’s goods which results from it.

Andrew Anderson

Granton Road

Edinburgh