Opposition and government MPs today begin two days of debate on the government’s 2012 spending plans which were formally presented to parliament on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, opposition party leaders will address parliament and outline their thoughts on the plans. Prime minister Mark Rutte will reply on Thursday.
Rutte has already said the government will be careful to monitor the cumulative effect of the cuts on certain sections of society.
‘We want to make sure people on low incomes do not lose 3% to 4% of their spending power while high earners benefit,’ he is quoted as saying by the Financieele Dagblad.
Knives out
Most opposition leaders are busy ‘sharpening their knives’ according to news agency ANP.
They argue the government’s plans miss leadership and vision and show that ministers do not have the answers to the looming economic crisis.
‘The cabinet does not have a sense of urgency about solving the euro crisis,’ Job Cohen, leader of the biggest opposition party PvdA (Labour) said, after Tuesday’s presentation.
D66 is keen to see further reforms of the economy. Its leader Alexander Pechthold said the queen’s speech on Tuesday was ‘worried and defensive’.
Left unsaid
Trouw points out that the queen’s speech was reminiscent in tone of John F Kennedy’s ‘Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country’ speech.
Rutte’s government wants to ‘strengthen the opportunities for economic growth’, removing bureaucratic barriers and opening the way for citizens and industry to be creative and innovative.
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‘The government’s guiding principle is that no one benefits from dependency’, the queen said. ‘By fostering individual development, government can help promote social cohesion.’
Almost half the speech was dedicated to these themes, the paper said. But equally significant is what remained unsaid. Europe, for example, was only mentioned twice . There was nothing about the need for give and take, about tolerance and shared responsibilities like in previous years.
And words such as sustainability, nature and culture did not get a look in. ‘You might well conclude that they are not key issues for the Rutte government. But mobility is,’ the paper pointed out. ‘And that was not mentioned either.’