A reception to mark the retirement of housing corporation boss Willem van Leeuwen has been cancelled at the last minute because of the row over his golden handshake, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

Housing minister Eberhard van der Laan had said he would use his speech to criticise the €1m pay-off given to Van Leeuwen, who has worked for the housing umbrella group Aedes for 27 years.
The reception was cancelled by the chairman of Aedes supervisory board Hans Alders. Van der Laan’s plan would ‘change the nature of the meeting considerably and threaten its aim – to say goodbye to Willem,’ Alders said in a statement.
Alders said the pay-out was in line with Van Leeuwen’s contract and current rules on golden handshakes. He is due to meet Van der Laan later on Wednesday to discuss the row.