Kristersson called for tougher family planning policies to stop women in vulnerable areas from having too many children, for compulsory pre-schools, and for “an army of adults to set boundaries against anti-social behaviour”, likening the reforms required to those brought in to combat slum poverty in Sweden at the start of the 20th century. 

“We once battled poverty in Sweden with a unique combination of a rational view of knowledge, intrusive social reforms, family planning and an ideal of upstanding behaviour,” he said. “I believe Sweden needs to make this journey once again.” 

The prime minister’s speech has been the highpoint of the Almedalen political festival, ever since the Social Democrat leader Olof Palme began the tradition of holding an informal speech in the Almedalen park in Visby, the capital of Gotland, back in 1968. 

In his call for a tougher social policy, Kristersson drew on his own background as the city councillor responsible for social policy in Stockholm. 

He complained that Sweden’s system of child benefit acted as “an incentive to have more children”. 

“Instead we should encourage women facing social exclusion to enter the labour market. That would be a real feminist home policy!” he declared. “Today, Sweden is successfully funding family planning – in other countries. But we don’t want to talk about the same trap for women when it happens in Sweden.” 

Kristersson predicted that some people in society would resist a more intrusive social policy. 

“Some people aren’t going to like the fact that society quite literally knocks on their door. Some people are going to complain about being singled out, but we need to lay any anxiety to one side and intervene earlier and more decisively. What we’ve done so far quite simply does not work.” 

At the start of his speech, Kristersson held a minute’s silence in memory of Ing-Marie Wieselgren, the psychiatrist who was stabbed to death at the festival last year, saying that he had worked with her as a city councillor. 

“She exemplified in human form so much that is good about Sweden: always putting knowledge and science in the centre, always with empathy and sensitivity, and always being curious about solving the most difficult problems,” he said. 

He also ran through a list of what he saw as his government’s achievements since taking office in November last year, such as making Sweden’s migration policy as restrictive as possible under EU laws, reducing the reception of UN quota refugees by 80 percent, increasing the salary threshold for labour migration, and building more prisons.