International

Parliament decided this evening that the public transport systems of the country's four biggest cities need not be put out to tender. SP public transport spokesman Emile Roemer described the decision as an important break from longstanding trends. “Parliament recognises that the market is not always the best mechanism for public transport. The SP's longstanding resistance to privatisation is clearly bearing fruit. Without us urban public transport would have gone to the highest bidder and we would have been faced with a host of new problems."

SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen has discovered that on 20 February 2006 a cargo of illegal tear gas grenades passed through Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on their way to Uganda. This is in conflict with the Netherlands’ policy on arms exports and for this reason Van Velzen will be demanding an explanation from the ministers responsible.