The coalition’s failure yesterday to agree on an alternative to cutting child benefit makes one of the top stories in Helsingin Sanomat. Thursday’s cabinet talks brought an end to six months of wrangling between the ruling parties, with the decision to go through with the government’s controversial plan to reduce the welfare payment. A tax break for low-income families will be introduced to mitigate some of the effects, in a move pushed for by the Social Democrats.
Helsingin Sanomat’s political editor sees the in-fighting over child benefit as a new type of conflict between the remaining four governing parties. “That they squabble between themselves is nothing new,” he writes, “but the style of their arguments has changed.” Deep ideological differences are coming to the surface, with SDP politicians frequently making reference to the party’s traditional and fundamental beliefs, for instance.
The second change, the column asserts, is that with every recent dispute – be it over benefits, nuclear power, Russia sanctions or even fishing licences for pensioners, the SDP appears to grow in confidence as a thorn in the side of Stubb’s National Coalition Party. With the country only months away from a general election, it’s likely the cracks in the coalition will grow wider as the vote nears.
Tampere makeover announced
A new vision for Tampere’s town centre makes the front page of Aamulehti, with a winner now chosen in an architectural competition to redesign the area around the railway station. “The boldest idea won,” the paper announces, laying out the plans by a coalition of architects including Danish firm Cobe and Finnish companies Ramboll, Lundén and Newsec.
The proposal, chosen by the town council, railway operator VR and land-owner Senaatti, is for a large development that would incorporate the town’s railway depot into the centre, creating a new central park running parallel to the tracks in front of the station. The railway terminal itself would lie underneath a newly created square, largely covered by a vast steel and glass canopy.
The reaction of residents so far has been largely positive – but many social media commentators seem to think that such a large-scale renovation isn’t called for. “Just start with the station tunnel – new lights, and clean up the advert boards. That won’t cost much,” said one.
On the trail of a new millionaire
Meanwhile Ilta-Sanomat has been out doing some investigative journalism, trying to track down last month’s winner of the record-breaking 61.2 million Eurojackpot lottery prize. “We’ve got it down to 500 possible people,” the paper says, having discovered that the lucky ticket-holder was a pensioner in northern Espoo.
In a video on the paper’s website, an intrepid reporter hits the streets to ask if anyone’s seen any new Ferrari-driving, minted-looking retirees hanging out in the shopping centre. “It’s no-one I know,” shrugs one pensioner. “I hardly talk to anyone round here and I’ve just come back from my summer house,” says another.
It then transpires that the winnings are only being paid out today. “Well what are they going to have bought beforehand if they haven’t got the money yet?” points out one sharp-witted elderly resident.