Labour MPs are divided over the future direction of the party following an interview with leader Job Cohen and party chairman Hans Spekman in Thursday’s Trouw, various media report on Thursday evening.

In the interview, Cohen and Spekman highlighted the number of similarities between the PvdA and the Socialist Party, leading some commentators to conclude the party planned a shift to the left.
But sources told website nu.nl, many senior members are unhappy with this strategy because it ignores the party’s strong social-democratic traditions. In addition, Nos television obtained a leaked email from party stalwart and MP Frans Timmermans in which he said he thought the interview was ‘strategically clumsy’.
Cohen has since said he did not mean to point the PvdA in the direction of the SP. He will meet MPs on Thursday evening to discuss the interview and the reactions.