Nieuws van de afdeling

1 April 2014

High earners profit from exchange of principles

SP leader Emile Roemer is pleased by the government’s decision to withdraw proposals to make unlawful presence in the Netherlands a criminal offence, describing the proposed measure as ‘an abuse of human rights’ which ‘has now been thrown out, and that’s good news.’ On the other hand he is less pleased by the way in which this was achieved, calling the deal between the two governing parties – Labour (PvdA) and the right-wing liberals (VVD) – as ‘unsavoury’, on the grounds that part of the agreement gives people on high incomes an additional tax advantage. ‘High income groups will profit from this fresh exchange of principles between PvdA and VVD. They will get a tax advantage, and those on low incomes will soon be getting the bill for this,’ he says. ‘And that’s on top of the fact that at the end of last year those on the very highest incomes have already been granted a tax advantage costing us half a billion.’

31 March 2014

Mexx refuses to discuss Bangladesh Safety Agreement

SP Member of Parliament Sharon Gesthuizen, together with Christian Union MP Joel Voordewind and representatives of the pressure group the Fashion Rebels, paid a visit today to the head office of clothing brand Mexx. Their intention was to ask them to sign the Bangladesh Safety Agreement, a pact to protect workers from fire and other potentially lethal factory hazards. Unfortunately the firm was unwilling to discuss the matter with the MPs and even threatened to call the police, refusing also to agree to a further meeting on the issue.

31 March 2014

The Netherlands must be able to say no more often to the EU

The Netherlands must be able to say ‘no’ to the EU more often than it does, restrain the power of lobbyists and be prepared in case the euro disintegrates.

28 March 2014

Verhofstad’s ‘mothers-in-law’

Europe’s no Vatican, but a democracy.

28 March 2014

European banking union: a huge European trap

In the SP’s view the Europhoric vote on the concluding agreement for the banking union is misplaced, because the idea that forms the basis of such a banking union is fundamentally flawed. The SP argues instead for a return to human scale in the banking sector, rather than hanging on to a failing system.

28 March 2014

Nuclear weapons in Europe squander money

Last Tuesday the biggest summit ever held in the Netherlands, the Nuclear Security Summit, concluded with a declaration. Dozens of world leaders committed themselves to making greater efforts to better secure nuclear material, yet their statement contains not a word about NATO’s atomic weapons in Europe. That’s odd when you consider that it recently became known that the security of these American arms does not meet the stated demands and that more money must be found if it is to do so.

International