De Kort made the statement in response to a report by the Minimum Social Committee, which calls for increases in the minimum wage and social assistance. In this way he let it be known that the VVD does not want to indulge him. But other MPs say they are not happy with the ruling party’s position.
‘shut up anyway’
In a tweet, ChristenUnie MP Don Ceder (also a member of parliament from the governing coalition) said he found the special statement, because the report was written by scientists on behalf of the House. The same reaction also comes from GroenLinks MP Lisa Westerveld.
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‘Bullying the poor’
GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver believes the VVD bullies the “poor”. ‘For convenience, the VVD forgets the working poor who are also below the social minimum. Or if you are unlucky in life and have benefits,” says the party leader of GroenLinks.
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Party member Tom van der Lee is also surprised. “The VVD has lost its way to stupid and antisocial coups.” He says his party is doing “everything” to “force Rutte IV to a higher social minimum”. With clown emojis, SP MP Bart van Kent also expresses his opinion on the statements of the VVD MP.
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It’s not just the House of Representatives that is reacting furiously. Kitty Jong, vice president of the FNV union and member of the Social Economic Council, says De Kort ‘indicates in this way that he represents the interests of employers, with a so-called social sauce’. “Keeping people in poverty to force them to work like this is outdated, wrong and polarizing,” says Jong.