‘It makes me sad that my city, my country, has forgotten how to live with people who come from somewhere else,’ are the opening words of former Christian Democrat prime minister Ruud Lubbers in the book De Vrees Voorbij (Past Fear), reports Thursday’s Volkskrant.

In the book, Lubbers makes it clear that he is unhappy with the harsh tone of the integration debate in the Netherlands, especially that of former integration minister Rita Verdonk.