VVD party stalwart Ed Nijpels thinks his party is drifting too far in the direction of the anti-Islam PVV and creating a ‘graveyard of unfulfilled promises’, he says in an interview with Friday’s AD.

Nijpels, a former housing minister and queen’s commissioner in Friesland, says the VVD is becoming too involved in ‘symbolic’ law-making.
‘I and a large group of people believe we are moving too close to the PVV,’ Nijpels told the paper. For example, the demand for minimum jail terms – one of the PVV’s main issues – is showing ‘a lack of confidence in the judiciary’, he said. ‘You should not do that if you want to defend the liberal state.’
Legal fees
Plans to increase legal fees and immigration policy which is impossible to put into practice are also a serious irritant, he said.
The proposal to stop people having dual nationality is a ‘gesture’ towards the PVV, he said. ‘We have 1,121,000 citizens with two passports. There has never been a demonstrable problem. No-one has a problem with it and now we are going to have legislation.’
The draft legislation on dual nationality is based on stopping foreign nationals keeping their original nationality if they become Dutch but will also cause Dutch expats to lose their Dutch passports.
The PVV has agreed to support the minority government on economic policy in return for tougher immigration rules.