The speedy speech from the throne: What the papers say

The Dutch papers found little to unite around in Tuesday’s king’s speech, with editorials picking at what was missing in substance and delivery.

The Volkskrant in its editorial remarked on the “lack of urgency” in the speech from the throne over measures to combat and alleviate climate change. Former climate minister turned prime minister Jetten’s green profile is “fading”, the paper wrote, as recent forecasts warn the Netherlands will come nowhere near realising its climate goals.

The less-than-emphatic reference to this year’s extreme temperatures in the king’s speech illustrates the prime minister’s wish to remain pals with everyone, by avoiding polarising issues, such as climate and a speedier energy transition, the paper said.

“Politicians too often believe that strict measures to protect the environment will weaken the country’s competitive strength but the reverse is the case in the long term,” it warned.

Trouw expressed surprise at the VVD’s stubborn and out-of-touch insistence on shielding the rich while raising taxes for everyone else when, according to a poll commissioned by the paper, voters across the board, including 50% of VVD voters, would support a rise in wealth tax.

“It is as if the VVD is fighting a rearguard battle over something a majority of voters want to get rid of, as economists and all manner of advisory commissions insist that it is wealth that should be taxed, not labour,” the paper wrote. “It will be up to the CDA and D66 to win that battle in the next few months.”

The Telegraaf commented on the fact that although the king’s speech contained few new measures, it was the longest in history, with 2,889 words, spoken in places at breakneck speed.

Fewer figures and less jargon went some way to make the speech more accessible and “the good news” was the king speedy delivery: an average of 2.5 words per second against his mother, former queen Beatrix’s, 1.6.

When the king mentioned the farmers and the “need for clarity regarding their long-term prospects,” they were actually setting fire to roads, “a standout moment”, the paper said.

The NRC, in its own analysis of the speech, has been totting up the number of times the word “cooperation” appeared. It’s 14, and that, the paper said, is a measure of how desperate this minority cabinet is to secure the support of the opposition both on the right and on the left.

The wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran are “only referred to halfway into the speech”, the paper noted, and while there is “violence” in Ukraine, the violence in Gaza and Iran is qualified as “a situation”.

In a scathing comment, the AD criticised the actions allegedly perpetrated by farmers during the king’s speech. “Those who want to save democracy don’t sabotage it”, the paper wrote.

“The most relevant passage in the speech was the one about polarisation. The one about the softer voice of people who are genuinely worried, which is increasingly being drowned out in the Netherlands.” The paper pointed out that sabotaging the railway system (which is still being investigated and has not been attributed to the farmers) comes with a penalty of 15-year prison sentence.