International

Hundreds of children have died in Yemen during the past year as a result of air raids conducted by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, while numerous schools, hospitals and mosques have been damaged. SP Member of Parliament Sadet Karabulut is urging Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra to do all he can in the UN Security Council to bring about a cease-fire by all parties in Yemen. The Netherlands is currently in the second of its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. “The bombing must stop,” says Karabulut. “The blockade must be lifted so that food aid and medicines can reach the Yemeni people. And we need an arms embargo to be imposed on the countries taking part in the bombing.”

Years of struggle have gone into this: after Belgium and Germany, we now have in the Netherlands also a ban on truck drivers, most of whom come from eastern Europe, spending entire weekends in their cabs on lorry parks during their compulsory rest periods. So it's to be welcomed that transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of the centre-right VVD actually joined a team of people this weekend distributing flyers informing the drivers about this new ban. This is a big step forwards in two ways: better conditions for drivers and a government minister from a right-wing party willing to go out and distribute flyers.

“Just like everywhere else in the world, the fight must be waged from below.”

On Thursday the biggest of the Netherlands' pension funds, ABP, which caters for civil servants and teachers, announced that it was ceasing all investment in nuclear weapons. Expressing her delight at the decision, SP Member of Parliament Sadet Karabulut said: “After years of campaigning by peace activists, the ABP has now come around. The campaigners deserve not only our congratulations but also our support in the fight for a world free of nuclear weapons.”

René worked for 22 years at Organon in Oss, as did thousands of others in the town. In every street lived someone who worked at the pharmaceutical company, either in the research laboratories or the factory. I was born and grew up in Organon's back yard. For us, Organon was much more than just work: for a hundred years it was the pride of our town. And it was known across the world as the inventor of the contraceptive pill.

What happens in the United States becomes to a great degree reality in our own country within ten years. That's why in 1993 we made a study of the condition of the US in regard to such matters as wages and profits, labour laws and working conditions, education, health care, housing and integration. The visit provided the inspiration for a book, Tegenstemmen, published in 1996 and translated into English as Enough! A Socialist Bites Back. Three further trips ensued, in 1997, 2002 and then in October 2017, almost a quarter century after the first visit. During that most recent of visits three questions took centre-stage. 1. What are the similarities and differences between the 1990s and now? 2. How could Donald Trump be the White House's new resident? 3. What explains the success of Bernie Sanders? To prepare for this we spoke to many journalists, columnists and correspondents, analysing the political situation in the US. Once there we met with dozens of people from different interest groups and with different viewpoints.

As a result of the world-wide process of neoliberal globalisation and the disappearance of the East Bloc as a rival superpower, advocates of the free market have the upper hand almost everywhere. Nationalist and right-populist parties with their 'own people first' message are generally enjoying more success in spreading their political message than are socialist parties and movements.

The SP's parliamentary group this morning elected Lilian Marijnissen as its new leader. She will succeed Emile Roemer who yesterday announced his decision to hand on the leadership. Marijnissen was one of two candidates to replace him.

It's beyond belief that the new government is doing nothing for the one in nine children growing up in poverty in the Netherlands, yet has chosen to make a gift of €1.4 billion to foreign investors and multinationals. This was the theme running through SP Senator Bastiaan van Apeldoorn's speech in the Senate during today's debate on the budget for the coming period.

Van Apeldoorn wants to know how the government will be implementing the motion proposed by his SP colleague Tiny Kox and approved last week by a majority in the Senate. The motion calls for the government to come up with a concrete plan to address child poverty in the Netherlands. Below are a résumé of and selections from Senator van Apeldoorn's contribution to the debate.