Nieuws van de afdeling

9 November 2009

Over the Wall

by Ewout Irrgang

Precisely twenty years ago the wall fell. In 1982, as a six-year-old, I visited my family in the GDR (East Germany) in the company of my parents and my four-year-old brother. So – I was very young. But I was old enough to carry away a child's memories. Such as the fact that my parents suddenly became very nervous as we arrived at the German-German border, the then Iron Curtain. Not a single checkpoint, but a whole street with many checkpoints had to be traversed before we could drive into the 'Workers' and Farmers' Paradise'. And I was really offended when I had to hand in my comic book to the border guards.

6 November 2009

Left, Right and Centre unite behind end to ban on blasphemy

SP Member of Parliament Jan de Wit today joined colleagues from the centre-right VVD and centrist D66 in proposing that the ban on blasphemy be scrapped. The proposal stands an excellent chance of finding the backing of a parliamentary majority. "It's not that I think you should be able to go round insulting anyone and everyone," says De Wit, "that's not why we want this scrapped. The law provides sufficient protection against insult and discrimination. There is no reason why religious believers should enjoy more protection than others."

6 November 2009

Decontamination of asbestos cement roofs less costly than doing nothing

On Friday, SP Member of Parliament Remi Poppe presented a report to an enthusiastic group of farmers on the need for decontamination of asbestos cement roofs. In the report, the SP argues for decontamination of the roofs, widespread on Dutch farms, because of the high degree of risk they carry for public health.

3 November 2009

'International solidarity still needed'

SP Member of Parliament Ewout Irrgang, the party's spokesman on overseas development, intervened in last Monday's discussion of the annual budget to issue a strong plea for international solidarity. Irrgang is among a broad group of signatories to a manifesto entitled 'Aid does help' (see below). "It shouldn't be a matter of reducing aid, but of improving it," he said. "The disproportionate emphasis on unsuccessful aspects of development cooperation doesn't do justice to the need for continuing international solidarity."

30 October 2009

Werther Nieland in Europe

Precisely sixty years ago the magnificent novel Werther Nieland by the great writer and man of the people Gerard Reve appeared. The novel revolved around the 11-year old Elmer, who made friends with Werther Nieland. Elmer is a sad, somewhat precocious boy who is often not understood by his friends. In order to boost his importance, Elmer regularly set up a club of which he would make himself chairman. One of the principles of each club was that it must always be chaired by the one in whose house it was established. Elmer himself, of course.

28 October 2009

SP pulls out of Benelux Parliament

The SP will no longer attend meetings of the Benelux Parliament. According to SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel, the body, which brings together parliamentarians from the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg is a talking shop whose main function seems to be the organisation of jaunts at the taxpayers' expense. It is not to be taken seriously.

International