Prime minister Mark Rutte will take the floor in parliament on Thursday to answer criticism leveled against the government’s 2012 spending plans.

The budget came under heavy fire from opposition MPs on Wednesday, who say it shows a lack of vision and does not contain answers for the economic problems facing the country.
Anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders also came under attack on Wednesday for the language used during his statements.
Lapdog
At one point he called Labour leader Job Cohen the prime minister’s lapdog and described aid minister Ben Knapen as ‘secretary of state for Sinterklaas affairs (Santa Claus)’. He also implied asylum seekers are criminals.
Deputy prime minister Maxime Verhagen said later Wilders’ language ‘did not always deserve a beauty prize’ and ‘if he was trying to be funny, he completely failed’.
But it is up to parliamentary chairwoman Gerdi Verbeet to say if Wilders’ language is acceptable or not, Verhagen said.
Freedom of speech
Christian Democrat parliamentary party leader Sybrand van Haersma Buma said Wilders’ language was unnecessary. ‘If you have freedom of speech, you should also have respect. And I miss that in Mr Wilders,’ he said.
Nevertheless, Wilders’ performance would not affect his role as official alliance partner to the minority government, the CDA MP said.
A number of prominent VVD members also called on the prime minister to distance himself from Wilder’s comments.