DANISH POLITICS (6)

The news this week has been dominated by the details of Lars Løkke Rasmussen's first-class travel and hotel costs. After sending his lieutenants out to argue that it was not necessary to give those details, he bowed to the inevitable and presented them at a press conference this afternoon.

It turned out to be one of the longest press conferences in Danish political history, at more than three and a half hours. This was to be expected. Mr. Rasmussen had a terrible case to defend, and the press smelt blood. In two areas, in particular.

First, with respect to expenses, Mr. Rasmussen has what the British police would call form. During his time as local politician, Interior Minister, Finance Minister and now Prime Minister-in-waiting, he has again and again been caught out sailing close to the wind, charging things to the public purse which should not have been, living a high lifestyle, and so on and so forth. the last time it happened, in 2008, he vowed that he had learned his lesson and that it would never happen again. DR replayed the clip on this evening's news, with the same interviewer now as then; it made him look foolish, to say the least.

It's even more foolish, given the image of himself that Mr. Rasmussen has strenuously tried to portray over the years. In Danish, it's "lille Lars fra Græsted"; little Lars from Græsted. In other words, he's an ordinary bloke, with ordinary hopes and desires, who understands other ordinary Danes and will see them right. The problem is that ordinary Danes almost never fly first-class, and certainly not at the taxpayer's expense.

If that was bad enough, it also emerged that the same money source had paid for an airfare for Mr. Rasmussen's daughter, at a cost of Dkr.27.000. Mr. Rasmussen will repay this money, which he claimed had been caused by a "misunderstanding". I am not sure that anyone believed this.

The whole saga has been a disaster for Mr. Rasmussen and his Venstre party. The only question is how big; the local elections next month will give the answer.

Walter Blotscher