CONGESTION CHARGES (2)

A month ago, I said that the chances that the new Government's "payment ring" for Copenhagen would go ahead were finely balanced. A flagship policy, particularly for the Socialists, versus fierce opposition from Social Democrat mayors in the western suburbs.

In the end, the mayors won. Yesterday Social Democrat Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt announced that the plan would be scrapped. Kr.1 billion would instead be spent on public transport, while an independent commission would urgently look at alternative measures to reduce congestion in the capital.

This is a major defeat for both the Government and the leaders of both the above parties. To abandon such a high-profile measure only 5 months into a new Government's life smacks of both weakness and ineptitude. The Social Democrats have been rewarded in the latest opinion polls with a rating of just 20%, their lowest ever.

The chances of this Government's lasting a full term look much reduced today. Margrethe Vestager of the Radikale Venstre, who wisely stayed out of the payment ring spat, must be wondering when she should ditch her two coalition partners and try to form a Government with the Opposition instead.

Walter Blotscher