Opposition MPs have been quick to savage justice minister Ard van der Steur after he admitted misinforming parliament about the source of information about one of the Brussels bombers.

Van der Steur was forced to tell parliament on Wednesday that information about two Belgian brothers involved in the Brussels bombing was passed to the Netherlands by police in New York, not the FBI.

On Tuesday, during a debate on the way the Netherlands dealt with the deportation of one of the brothers from Turkey, Van der Steur said information about their background had been given to the Netherlands by the FBI on March 16.

‘A mistake has been made in identifying the source of the information,’ Van der Steur said in a written note to parliament. ‘The Dutch liaison at the embassy in Washington was given a message from another major American intelligence organisation, the Intelligence Division of the New York Police Department.

Amateurism

‘We have to realise that he did not know what he was talking about,’ Christian Democrat leader Sybrand Buma said.

The minister is dealing with ‘the most important thing that we have – our safety and preventing terrorist attacks,’ he said. The amateurism shown by international cooperation [in counteracting terrorism] is disgraceful, the CDA leader said.

Circus

Socialist party leader Emile Roemer said the coalition government is quick to point the finger at Turkey and Belgium but has shown time and time again that it is not in control.

‘It is becoming a bit of a circus,’ Roemer said, adding that the minister has ‘some explaining to do’ at next week’s debate.

PVV leader Geert Wilders said in a reaction: ‘The Netherlands needs a security and justice minister who exudes confidence and knows what he is talking about. That does not appear to be the case.’