According to a recent poll, Danes are not prepared to sacrifice public services in order to finance the national budget deficit of DKK 95 billion.

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Danes don't want cuts to public services

08. feb. 2010 11.58 English

Danes are not prepared to sacrifice public services in order to finance the national budget deficit of DKK 95 billion, according to a poll by Danish Confederation of Trade Unions newsletter Ugebrevet A4.

Only 12 percent of those polled said that cutting public services is the answer.

- The welfare state is something the Danish population cares deeply about. They don't want to slash public service levels, says professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen, Kasper Møller Hansen.

Split along party lines
Although Danes agree that cutting public service levels is a no-go, they disagree markedly on how to stop the gap in the national budget.

Danes are split along party line on the issue.

39 percent of the population propose to increase user payment, while 43 percent want to finance the deficit through tax increases, according to the A4 poll.

- It's a classic situation. The left-wing voters want tax increases, the right-wing voters want increased user payments, says Kasper Møller Hansen.

Translated by Martin Lamberth