SGP chooses middle position in housing debate
In this housing construction debate, Laurens Dassen (Volt) and Wybren van Haga (BVNL) are clearly political opposites: Dassen believes that the government has interfered far too little in the housing market in recent decades, and that as a result too little has been built. Van Haga sees the opposite: according to him, government intervention has paralyzed the housing market. SGP leader Chris Stoffer chooses a middle position in this fierce discussion about market forces versus government intervention. “The market must do it together with the government,” says Stoffer. It is in line with the SGP line that the government has a task, but society and the business community have to solve a lot together. “The government cannot do everything.”
Oh yes, Van Haga
Good to remember in this housing debate: Wybren van Haga, the party leader of BVNL, in addition to his parliamentary membership, owns more than a hundred properties that he rents out. He also has a questionable reputation as a landlord.
Stoffer: ‘housing crisis is caused by badgers and martens’
Laurens Dassen accuses Wybren van Haga of “scapegoat politics”. According to him, the fact that things are now going wrong on the housing market is due to VVD policy, not necessarily because of immigrants. Chris Stoffer responds to this and blames “badgers and martens” for the fact that too few houses can be built. By this he refers to the protected status of animals — if they are located somewhere, new construction projects can be delayed.
Let the market build, says Van Haga. Eh?
“If you just leave it to the market, you will just get the market to build,” says Wybren van Haga (BVNL). This is difficult to reconcile with the past decade, in which the market gained more and more space while housing construction plummeted. Only in recent years has government control returned.
The recurring disclaimer
It is a recurring statement from parties on the right this election campaign: the housing shortage is said to be due to the influx of asylum seekers.
Here is the recurring disclaimer: The Netherlands has the legal task to accommodate asylum seekers with a residence permit as a priority. But in reality, more than 90 percent of the vacated social housing goes to other, ‘normal’ home seekers, the independent Migration Advisory Council reported last year. Over the years 2015-2019, an average of 7.8 percent of the cheaper rental properties went to status holders each year.
Mona Keijzer sees migration as the reason that PVV is now growing and BBB is declining
Mona Keijzer, number two on the BBB list, is in the audience this debate evening and beforehand she is in her party’s faction room. “Those polls..”, she sighs. With the PVV getting a little higher, BBB getting a little lower. Mona Keijzer thinks it is due to the theme of migration, because that is what she thinks is mainly on people’s minds right now. “And that is Wilders’ theme.” She said she didn’t notice anything when she distributed flyers in Purmerend, Edam and Volendam. “That was a celebration for us.”
When the debate with the smaller parties starts at seven o’clock, the leading parties of the larger parties must already report to a meeting room for their make-up. At a quarter past eight a group photo will be taken with all participants. In the House of Representatives restaurant, just before the debate starts, Caroline van der Plas says that she has started using a cough syrup. And that that helps. In the second RTL debate she had such a violent coughing fit that she could not finish her sentences. The other party leaders had pushed their glasses of water towards her. That no longer seems necessary.
Volt, BVNL and SGP about the housing crisis
It is the turn of party leaders Laurens Dassen (Volt), Wybren van Haga (BVNL) and Chris Stoffer (SGP) to debate the housing market. To warm up, three striking positions of these parties from their election manifesto:
Volt wants a mandatory distribution for ‘urgent seekers’: all municipalities in the Netherlands take in a fair share of urgent housing seekers.
BVNL wants to deploy a ‘senior broker’ who helps elderly people who live too large to move, so that their home becomes available to families.
The most striking thing is that the housing section of the SGP is one paragraph long. The most important sentence: “Supply must better match demand.”
Bikker: ‘only 13 percent of immigrants come for asylum’
Mirjam Bikker mentions asylum migration for the first time, and points out that asylum seekers and refugees make up only “13 percent” of total immigration. That’s right, asylum migration has fluctuated between 10 and 12 percent over the past twenty years.
In her view, in order to get a “control over migration”, there is much to be achieved by curbing the most common form of migration; almost a quarter of the migrants come to the Netherlands for work. By the way, the largest group of immigrants come for love, no less than 33 percent.
Also read: Suddenly the migration debate is not just about asylum
Are 1.5 million Dutch people standing on the sidelines?
Much of the work done by migrant workers can also be done by Dutch people, said Thierry Baudet (FvD). “One and a half million people are standing on the sidelines in the Netherlands.” He believes that working should become more rewarding.
That number is incorrect. According to statistics agency CBS almost 1.2 million people belong to the so-called ‘untapped labor potential’. And that category is much broader than just people who are unemployed. It concerns three groups.
The majority, 517,000 people, are already working, but would like to work more hours. The second category are unemployed people according to the official definition: 366,000 people are quickly available and actively looking for work. The third group, almost 300,000 people, are not readily available or are not actively looking for work.
Bikker and Olf wish Baudet strength
In the debate on labor migration, CU leader Mirjam Bikker first takes the opportunity to tell Baudet that she wants to “emphasize that it is good to see him here.” She also says: “An attack on a politician is an attack on democracy.”
Bij1 leader Edson Olf, who is participating in a television debate for the first time, agrees by saying that it is “nice” that Baudet is there and wishing him “a lot of strength”. Baudet wants to know from Olf what he thinks about a tweet from someone he believes is a Bij1 member, in which the attack on him is justified. He thinks it is important that Bij1 gives an “unambiguous” response, he says. Olf says that he is not concerned with “the statements of all our members”.
Bikker about labor migration: ‘shows that there is a lot wrong in the Netherlands’
The first topic that the leading parties of the smallest parties debate is migration. The Netherlands has no fewer than 800,000 migrant workers, which puts pressure on social services such as education. The main reason for population growth.
Mirjam Bikker of ChristenUnie sees that employers “grab the benefits, but not the burdens”. As far as she is concerned, this shows that “there is a lot wrong in the Netherlands.” She wants to better identify what is needed.
Edson Olf of Bij1 points to economic growth, which would encourage more labor migration. Anyone who comes here should be able to live in “humane conditions”. Sometimes migrants live with twelve people in a house, and that is not possible, according to him. Bikker confronts him with the Bij1 election programme, which mentions admitting everyone who comes here.
Baudet starts with labor migration about typical FVD points
Striking: Thierry Baudet does not use his speech during the debate on labor migration to start with a larger story about migration. Instead, he starts about the poverty trap: the problem that Dutch people sometimes earn less if they work more due to a combination of allowances and schemes. In short, more Dutch people must be helped to find work to prevent the need for labor migration. He also wants to lower taxes and talks about the costs of climate policy. It is all reminiscent of the FVD’s 2019 Provincial Council campaign: it was also about a mix of immigration, purchasing power and climate.
How is Baudet doing now?
FvD leader Thierry Baudet is grateful he can attend the NOS Final Debate. Things are going “relatively well,” he says, “a 7.5.” Yesterday, the FvD leader was hit twice on the head with a beer bottle in a Groningen pub. He still has pain on the left side of his skull. Finally, he thanks “the mainstream media” for inviting him to the debate.
First hour of labor migration, housing and finances central
The smaller parties are central in the first hour. The following three themes will be discussed, with these party leaders:
Labor migration: Mirjam Bikker (Christian Union) – Edson Olf (BIJ1) – Thierry Baudet (FVD)
Housing shortage: Laurens Dassen (Volt) – Wybren van Haga (BVNL) – Chris Stoffer (SGP)
The wallet: Mirjam Bikker (Christian Union) – Joost Eerdmans (JA21) – Stephan van Baarle (DENK)
Party leaders get a last chance to convince voters in the NOS final debate
Rarely has it been as exciting prior to the traditional NOS final debate as in this election campaign. In recent weeks, the VVD, NSC of Pieter Omtzigt and GroenLinks-PvdA have been jointly leading in the polls, and in recent days Geert Wilders’ PVV has happily joined them in a final sprint. That image was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon in the final poll by Ipsos/EenVandaag. According to various opinion pollsters, these four parties can all become the largest party on Wednesday, although that does not guarantee the premiership or cabinet participation. The cabinet formation once again promises not to be easy.
In the final debate, almost all parties that have a chance of winning a seat in Parliament will still be given a platform. From 7 p.m., eight smaller parties will debate among themselves (ChristenUnie, JA21, Denk, Volt, BVNL, SGP, BIJ1 and FVD), from 8:30 p.m. the stage will be for the nine larger parties (VVD, PVV, D66, BBB, GroenLinks). /PvdA, NSC, CDA, PvdD, SP). This classification is determined on the basis of a weighting of the number of seats in the current House of Representatives and the number of seats in the Polling Guide of November 1. This weighting of seats and polls is favorable for the CDA, for example, and so party leader Henri Bontenbal is still with the larger parties tonight.
The party leaders will try to convince voters tonight who are still floating or are considering voting strategically. While GroenLinks-PvdA hopes that many left-progressive voters will strategically vote for the party combination to prevent a right-wing cabinet, VVD and PVV are trying to convey that only a vote for the right can prevent a left-wing prime minister. Other parties, such as D66, the SP, Volt and Party for the Animals, try to convince their potential voters that a strategic vote for a major party will not yield anything.
FVD party leader Thierry Baudet will be present at the final debate tonight. He was attacked with a beer bottle in a cafe last night, after being hit with an umbrella earlier this campaign. Baudet feels “well enough to continue”, he said on Tuesday afternoon in the House of Representatives building.
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