Some 43% of the Dutch agree they would rather there were fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands, according to an opinion poll by Maurice de Hond for the anti-immigration PVV.

PVV leader Geert Wilders could be facing prosecution for leading his supporters in chanting ‘fewer, fewer, fewer’ when asked if they would like more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands after last month’s local elections.

The Maurice the Hond result, based on a poll of 2,500 people, is in line with other surveys after the ‘fewer Moroccans’ incident. It also shows 48% of people don’t care about the number of Moroccans in the country.

Criticism

De Hond himself has responded to criticism of the poll by saying he carries out research for all political parties.

A number of prominent people had sent Twitter messages to De Hond asking if he was also prepared to take on commissions asking if people would like to see fewer Jews or Catholics.

De Hond said in his blog that he denounced all forms of discrimination and referred to his Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust but had been shocked by the anti-Semitism of Dutch people they thought they knew.

Visible

‘And it will not go way by not making research visible,’ he said. ‘I think my parents before the war would have rather known how the world actually was.’

A survey carried out by De Hond shortly after the ‘fewer, fewer, fewer’ chant showed 72% thought Wilders’ behaviour was unacceptable, including 20% of PVV supporters.