International

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong has this week submitted close to fifty proposals designed to offer a socially progressive way out of the crisis. That this is badly needed is demonstrated, he argues, by two pieces of research published during the week. A report from EU statistics body Eurostat shows that throughout Europe the crisis has seen a growth in the gap between rich and poor, and that nine out of ten Dutch citizens believe that poverty is either on the increase or remaining static, while a quarter find it hard to make ends meet. A separate enquiry demonstrated that at the same time the number of Dutch millionaires has risen by 15% in the last year. The SP's proposals come under three headings: tackling the causes of the crisis; preventing and combating poverty; and improving supervision of state finances.

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel is supporting the international call for the freeing of around 2700 Kurdish children held in Turkish prisons. In a series of parliamentary questions to Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, Van Bommel asks him to put pressure on Turkey to abide by the International Treaty on the Rights of the Child. In a direct call to Dutch UNICEF ambassadors actress Monique van der Ven and cabaret artist Paul van Vliet, the SP spokesman on international affairs called on the two to support the international action.