in this program we try and get to grips with the secret of the daily show of happiness it's a fascinating time in danish politics p. alice levy is copenhagen's former maid of coach and leisure and former mayor of church and youth she says culture and leisure is a vital part of the city's long term planning i'm she is convinced it's a big reason why the city ranks as one of the happiest places in the world. we're obviously work with alex i want to thank you so much. as move of culture of leisure here in copenhagen how important is a cultural aspect to the vibrancy of a great city like this well i think the cultural life in copenhagen is one of the reasons why we have been ranked as one of the best cities in the world of course you need care centers you need great infrastructure and all that but it's the cultural life is the lesser life it's all the fun things that are important to a city the size of copenhagen at least maybe the city for the world populous

skyline much of the the traditional architecture most of the time. difficult for you to do well it was actually one of my first political decisions when i became mayor of culture lesher back in two thousand and eight and a former lord mayor she didn't want to keep the skyline she wanted to make it possible if the right project came that we could just put up a big building right in the center of the city but a majority of parties decided that no way we want to keep the skyline we want to keep what disparity important and very special to copenhagen but we also wanted to make sure that of course we can build high buildings and spectacular new buildings around a city but the old city has to remain the old city structure the pier for a visitor to the city like myself those wonderful as well the first issue you noticed distinctively about copenhagen but of course with the the number of people

coming and wanting to come to copenhagen to study as a result the city success of must be quite a tension between not being able to build highways and accommodating the growing number of people well but i think that most people they prefer copenhagen like this because we're building new fantastic areas in copenhagen with new very modern buildings i think a lot of people they would actually not like to live in the old city because you have all the past you have all the restaurants you have all the people in the old city so the people coming to copenhagen to live here they actually want to stay just. a kilometer or two away from the from the center but still be able to go there and enjoy the life there so we're building i don't know really many many many apartments right now for for new copenhagen so that people will conduct a listen to you over the christmas period over this market with copenhagen. before i was here perhaps or not. scott was.

attractive there would be as many things to to do visit in terms of the cultural food of the city we're actually trying to we had when i was mayor we had really invented something called the doll to stace boring to stay safe because tuesdays was just the days where one day you don't want to go out anyway but tuesdays you actually wanted to do something but not and none of the music venues or the bars of restaurants had anything special to offer so we actually created kind of a fun from from the city so you could get money to give a concert or do something spectacular for the copenhagen as but only on tuesdays we had that for a few years and that actually worked so i think you would you would find copenhagen interesting almost all the time and of course. you don't go to the high end cases every time you you also have to search for some of the small more invisible

interesting places and we have a lot of those and luckily we still have a lot of those in copenhagen so it's not all just mainstream and nice and things that you could see in london or new york but we also have to special copenhagen way of having fun for a special company could we have an. information i want to show you should stay here for a few more days then you know or you should definitely go to the old meat packing district in copenhagen we kept it just as it looked when it was the meat packing district longer. well actually we still have to two of the old meat packing companies located there they think it's terrible now i think because there are a lot of people a lot of people dancing and drinking and having fun but we have a lot of fresh ones we have a lot of bars we have a lot of music with the news galleries and all kind of things and during the summertime we have

a big markets where all the farmers from around copenhagen would come and sell. dynamic extra balls and stuff like that so so it's a place that is very vibrant especially in the summertime of course as you might notice when it's cold in copenhagen people don't smile as much as they do in the summertime but just remember i'm from scotland but let's not go cold here no look there should be the attitudes of people in copenhagen. denmark where you key has been known for its. attitude service to see european integration the last of them to be the question about copenhagen's identity as a european city of the ambiguity people being with the particulars of this pier i think that we see ourselves as european i think we see ourselves as. people that are interested in meeting people from all over the world what i think that we are

not that interested in is the bureaucracy in the european union so i think the skepticism that we have. towards you is probably some of the same as the british some of the british had but for for the copenhagen is and that they it's we're living in europe we're part of europe and we want to invite europe into our homes and our cities but we don't want to be part of the bureaucracy in in the us that that's where the skepticism come from i think. but what will be the attitude of people in copenhagen towards but towards the british process of will grow from the european union is a subject top to both or as a point of view the top of the agenda it is something that we talk about in denmark i think we all fear what will happen in the future will be keep a close connection with. the british people and there's

a lot of trade although bacon and butter and all that is that can we still be exporting that and we still work a lot of danger for it in in london for instance what will what will happen but that that close close connection on the other hand i also think most of the things find it a bit. whole areas in a kind of way to see how all these people that been against the european union and want to struggle for the brics it now they are leaving. their leaving england now because they realize what what they actually voted for and they don't want to be part of that anyway so i think they're looking at it with some fear and skepticism but also. perhaps also that yes i think so but the terms of the politics of this have been some of the euro skeptics the brakes the tears of the cold and britain said well we once britain goes the other comes as

a because you got to leave the you the puny bureaucracy is their only child support so over the denmark would join britain in the exit i don't think so i just saw our prime minister say that that will never happen we will never have this vote in denmark to to leave the you for us it's very important to be part of that so i don't think it will be i think that we will have to work in the future to make it better. more slim probably but i i think that that that the. english way of doing things is to stay within the system and try to fix it from the inside instead of just getting out and yell at at everyone who's trying to do good keeping your toys in the prom exactly act like i want to assure that most positions a small european nation which seems to be punching well above its weight about this to us city and there was very impressed with the hundred mass now it is working in

all these u.n. agencies is that little over a small country can use its appeal in its advantages perhaps as a small country because many of these agencies would have difficulty headquarter in washington or more school for that matter but some hope for headquarters in copenhagen is a much more amenable for a whole range of reasons is that example of a small company can position itself to gain the advantages of an asset to be small as opposed to a disadvantage i think it's a very good example and i think that a lot of the big agencies they're looking towards copenhagen and then also some of the bigger companies they're looking to denmark because we have less bureaucracy we have more slim culture we have we have an almost no corruption all that and then i think that a lot of people see us as someone who actually wants to do good things in the world that we will try to make an impact that we'll try to. show what what could be done

out in the world in a better way. also find that really annoying that we come with the danish way of living that they need the danish all that danish films and all that and say well look at us we're doing so good but i think that we're showing a good example and we're trying to make sure that that people understand that even a small. as a small nation can also do a lot of impact and we have things all over the world that. great positions doing a wonderful job one of my favorite and you should definitely took her. up if if you ever get a chance to do that is is a woman called catch us and she is the head of an organization called women deliver it's based in new york but they're actually focusing on doing everything they can to make women heard all over the world to make sure that young girls get their right education that they get a chance to be well educated in all kinds

a way that that you don't get to meet discrimination just because you're woman all that and she's having meetings with well all the prime ministers in the world and the u.n. and all that stuff is that they and she is sitting in new york you know that so that's an example of an international addition to very much a daily food from to touch to definitely definitely and i'm proud to to know a lot of people like that all over the world and of course it's also very important that people actually come to copenhagen or to denmark and all the people working at the u.n. city they are also part of the copenhagen way of living so hopefully when they leave copenhagen they would also be finished or copenhagen or ambassadors to tell what a wonderful city it is to live in so that's an example of division foods worldwide to the terms of advancing the cause of women for if the market in terms of representation at city level and representation in the national parliament to

a woman finding equality in the political process i think of the city council right now it's almost fifty fifty and we have a majority of female leaders of the parties in the city council and some of the bigger parties also in the parliament the second largest party has a woman in front we have the head of the parliament is also a woman so i think that actually in politics the women find it more attractive to east year maybe two to be be in top position but of course a serious bore good. woman. prime minister of denmark but tell me there's politics is interesting because you would have got the impression of what an avid follower of as a bit i was born is fantastic and bolton is a is a good glimpse of what what the policy. is doing and what the politicians and doing . thank you so much for being now it's time and should thank you so much.

coming up after the break we'll take a look at some of the issues surrounding immigration and high taxation and mark. twenty fourteen a bloody revolution to the demonstrations going from being relatively peaceful political protests to be creasing the bottle. revolution is always spontaneous or is it you know here to put a premium you know let's put video it's really in the new bill is that i do believe that the former ukrainian president recalls the events of twenty fourteen. those who took. invested over five billion dollars to assist ukraine in these an article that will ensure

a secure and prosperous and democratic. welcome back to our special cities on denmark a country ranked as one of the happiest places on the planet but increasingly the challenges of immigration and high taxes are causing some danes to question whether their consequent afford to be as generous as it has been in the past others feel that new laws to ban the burka and cuts to welfare have caused the country to edge closer to the right novelis canoe drew mark is a reminder danish commentator and also one of denmark's leading radio stations alex caught up with him to hear his thoughts. author social commentator maybe so obviously the daily society is among the most contented on and off why it's not some kind of lost. and of rational note it's probably actually because of

biggest problem because of taxes because we have a great equality there's no that huge class differences which doesn't which doesn't call for frustration you know we're quite equally in income and living standards and then we have a whole lot of trust and trust is kind of the glue that keeps society together we do trust each other we're small country and so you can keep your babies on the street without being afraid that they're being stolen we look each other in the eye when we make deals and we have a whole lot of trust that people won't cheat on you so so that would be the rational answer this that's not a huge difference social classes and not huge conflicts and a lot of trust the most ironic people on earth will be well understood in the medical no not at all we always say the opposite of what we actually mean also because we have very tied we don't have much much space so to get some space you say the opposite and you get some space so we're very ironic and we have very much

of this thick i mean we've got huge taxes bad food so we kind of you know content because we can't help it anyway it's like yeah it's raining yeah you know the wind is always against you yeah you know you don't have any money to the state to get all yeah also we might be the most content people on earth but we also the most drinking hot drinking people in europe. so the content of this might steam from that also we were drunk when we oncet. even if you're happy in the same some equally miserable still just to be in denmark is a happy. come true i will not submit to challenges to the state of compared to that one high taxation is high taxation sustainable in the modern world of all the forces of globalization and secondly the perceived threat at least of immigration rebalancing daily society list

a reason tom of these going to be challenges to the state of the actually i mean we we are very sarcastic about the high taxes but as i said it it keeps from conflict because you can't get anywhere people are quite equal in come and we are quite happy to to give up a huge part of all income for a sense of social security which again is maybe the content nessus depended on that that we feel secure we feel we have trust we have a very very low corruption we have historically we have one of the least corrupt countries in the world which you can distrust so and this is the high taxes yeah they are a plague but then again we we buy from that a sense of social security and of course when the state kaante live of that when the state content of the social security and the belief that we will be helped if in need then we have

a problem with the taxes because then we don't get anything for our money rather you can't depend on yourself because you don't have the means anymore you've given them to the state and the state consequence your needs then you have a huge problem and if again the social welfare state is a problem with immigration because for every immigrant we get they have enormous amounts of rights hospital school things that costs a lot of money so many people are going to say well all these high taxes which a taking away from me. which should should cure me my welfare state is now from each and every immigrant that is being endangered by most economic analysis in this develop an answer to that immigrants tend to be younger highly productive and contribute more to the whole society than the take that's that's what mca and

germany say they have the systems and they say hey you know you're not making children enough and you're going to need hands you're going to need brains so take it from that. and then not we have a general picture that being a menace being somebody who don't contribute but but not integrated don't speak danish they don't have any education they don't contribute to this is they are living off on welfare that's that's such a big thing in denmark that i mean out biggest second biggest party is a nationalist is the danish people's pov to yes risen to prominence on an immigration ticket yanna nationalist did not for the danes just like trump and sort of course tom's mother was an immigrant yeah i could nominate migrant from school yeah. but but that is a problem because you see they could they come with criminal statistics they come

with the to sticks about out of being being out of work and search so on and so forth and i mean that two hundred fifty thousand immigrants and we have six million people how can they be conceived as a threat to the danish society but even more so how can they be conceived as a threat to danish identity because when when the day's over what we're talking about isn't really that they are a problem for all of the social security and the social welfare state know their problem for our national identity so we're only talking about what is danish and what isn't danish you know the biggest problems here is they won't shake your hand . oh that's a problem we we're making laws that you have to shake and we're making laws that you have to eat the danged pork if you don't eat pok in kindergarten it's a problem it's a problem if you don't have a danish christmas if you're nice to me so with that with that sort of restrictive legislation against that or. is that the sign of

a defense of society which refuse some people within it feel the need to see all we've got to protect the suspect which we believe is integral today feels danger values in the danish way of living under threat by a minority and it might it might be you know then that was a huge empire and we have very small and very very home again exciting we look the same we smell the same we eat the same we say the same if you diverse you will have a problem if you are too funny or too crazy and i know it's a small country so we haven't been used to people having other values having saying no by doing like this or you know so so we're feeling a kind of a strange moment that whoa that people get into having different clothes different things and we have this feeling

a threat from global sation from from immigrants from things we can't control and this is it's like it's seems like a child in puberty you know who hasn't really secure identity and who has to kind of have a huge you know question directed out what to have a stronger feeling of being identical with yourself and your and your partner's it is simply schilens through the additional daily split school spirit everybody was a social democrat on then. passed to the world and could be over rated because when else we are right when pope was on post won the presidency to make the governments of italy is challenging in germany but then got to be second party but there were fifty two who can people get too alarmed. a fifth of the

country hunkering down to two old values yes but they have a lot of saying it's kind of they have these deals is that the liberal party wants to save reduced taxes so they said what can we give the right wing party for that the right wing party always wants the same stronger rules against immigration border and so on and so forth and this they're sending out they say find you we don't care it's a minority you can have that if we can't reduce taxes or if we can get our fiscal law find you we get your votes and you can get whatever you want pork or handshakes and who cares you know it seems ridiculous it's seems they can't cope with differences it seems as if it's kind of misleading public opinion let's let's give them this let's talk about some small irrelevant stuff because we can't deal and cope with the real questions it's seems like smoke but let's get the last tax

issue right with something most prosperous country on earth the highest the productivity of many countries we would envy high taxation certainly but social services public services compared to most countries. regarded news service is one of the happiest countries on the planet what an air for you wanting a bit well it just came to you were netting you'll stop fretting about things i think one is that we have to take i take it away from us they're going to take it away from us and second i think our history might not be you know exactly right. you know humanitarian the u.n. city and so on and so forth so if you look at our history we are kind of opportunities. and we are kind of missions the a first world war we prospered we solo the foodstuffs you just go on having all it's great we're getting rid of mark was new to the first world war again and we got rich on the first world war and the second world war we were happy about the

germans until standing grot and then we were caught dead losing who's winning oh oh the u.s. is winning great i mean even when we had poland here when they came into the european country and in copenhagen it was the germans paying for it they paid the polish people some billions and say get in and but our prime minister was standing there saying so ladies and gentlemen we have a deal when when germany to one million refugees we took thousand we don't even take. refugees it's a lie we're lying to ourselves and maybe we also are lying about our happiness and our welfare state because as it is now the welfare state is in in a state of of slow disintegration we are taking the means from the poorest people those who are really neat and a challenge them into middle class institutions schools and hospitals are fine but people without without education people who really those in need of getting less

and less and being more and more controlled losing their freedom that they're not being treated like a black hole citizens that they contour what they want to travel as they want to choose the work they want that being forced i mean i'm sitting here waiting for the moment when we say the convoked anymore if you don't have enough money so maybe our self picture a way that this story would tell us about ourselves might be a lie and we might be waking up and we are afraid of waking up because then we aren't danes and everything isn't that happy and that good as we think it is it is and maybe the. it's why we feel threatened so when you're looking for somebody with a glasses grill you have a custom in vs scotland a scottish glade yeah here is my aspire was reversing gus i'm a mad man my first love was george macdonald it's fantasy you know and i just love scottish culture i love scottish literature and i love scottish beer and i love

scottish weather it's like the danish just even worse and i love scottish girls of course i went to the isle of skye portree that was the most beautiful red haired freckled girl who took me to a dance in the church and i didn't pull it off i sat waiting there and somebody took her out and dance with her and they're probably happily married now i should have taken out dancing i would be living in poetry having sheep drinking with the priest and having the most beautiful life with with rain and wind and the sea and it would be a much nicer work can do but you lost love from sky i can't help if the toasting of it yeah and i was to give you the quick the only subject with a loving cup and go oh oh you know the true whisky in the quick password only your close friends and it particular could only scotch whisky of course and if you hear me come get me. so are we any closer to finding that elusive daily

hospitalists the one the subways tell us one of the most contented places on the planet as we see that not everyone agrees so and so something rotten in the state of deadlock several things really hunky dorey but still the conclusion we can draw is happiness like beauty lies in the eye of the beholder so from me than myself and all of the show it's goodbye from no.

i don't know president sisi personally to tell you if he's a sociopath who enjoys i can't tell you that he's probably not that he probably thinks that he's doing the right thing that this is a necessary evil that he needs to eliminate you know other differing political points of human that he needs to crack down on people for having thoughts thinks that he's doing it for the best interests of egypt he thinks that he's doing it for the best interests of egyptians but it's definitely not the case.

political crisis in venezuela prompts a wave of international reaction with some of the country's opposition leader interim president others though voiced concern over foreign meddling and the potential for civil war. government demonstrations of the. opposition supporters and police. scotland's former first minister alex salmond denies any wrongdoing after he was charged with attempted rape and sexual assault.