MPs are to hold an emergency debate on yesterday’s hard hitting report on the Netherlands’ role in the Iraq conflict in 2003.

And there are growing reports of a serious rift between the Christian Democrat prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Labour MPs over the government’s initial response to the report.
A motion by the Liberal democratic party D66 was given unanimous support by MPs. Balkenende and deputy prime minister and Labour leader Wouter Bos have also been summoned to attend.

Labour
D66 leader Alexander Pechtold called for the debate after the prime minister on Tuesday night appeared to dismiss some of the report’s most critical conclusions, much to the fury of MPs.
Last night Labour’s parliamentary leader Mariëtte Hamer said she did not believe Bos agreed with Balkenende’s initial statement, despite the prime minister’s assurances he had been consulted.
Labour was not part of the government during the war. The party had called for an independent inquiry into Dutch position on Iraq but dropped that when it became part of the new government in 2006.
Talks between Balkenende and his two deputies on a formal response were broken off in the early afternoon. News agency ANP says the discussion was hit by ‘complications’ while Nos tv says a cabinet crisis is looming.
By 18.30 hours, it was unclear if the debate would take place on Wednesday.
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