Court cases and reports as spending power row rumbles on

The traditional first debate between the new cabinet and parliament may not take place on Thursday as confusion over the effect of the coalition agreement on spending power rumbles on.


Prime minister Mark Rutte has said no-one will have their disposable income cut by more than 4% as the result of government strategy. But others put the figure far higher and say middle income families in particular will be hard hit by a combination of measures.
MPs have now asked the family spending institute Nibud to carry out its own calculations – an exercise which is likely to take several days.
The nine opposition parties have also asked the government for additional information before Wednesday afternoon when they will decide whether or not the debate should go ahead.
Court
Meanwhile, broadcaster RTL is going to court on Wednesday morning in an effort to force the government to release background information drawn up by the macro-economic spending institute CPB and used during the coalition negotiations.
‘There is major unrest and everyone knows the CPB has the answers,’ said RTL’s deputy editor Pieter Klein. ‘The government is doing all it can to keep the documents secret and we hope the courts will make an end to it.’
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