Cabinet gathers to weigh right-wing bloc’s new joint demands

Top members of the Dutch cabinet have gathered to discuss demands made on Thursday by a newly formed alliance of right-wing parties that could determine the future of the government’s tax plan.

On Thursday morning, leaders of the far-right JA21, orthodox Protestant party SGP, and farmer-citizen movement BBB announced they are banding together to force concessions in the tax plan negotiations.

They set out their demands – mainly concerning asylum, nitrogen and abortion – in a letter to the cabinet on Wednesday evening.

If their demands are met, the group says, it will support the cabinet on the rest of the tax plan and take a “constructive” approach to the budget.

The parties want to scrap plans to raise taxes to fund defence spending for NATO, as well as a planned VAT rise on flowers, and they want profit exemptions for small businesses raised.

Adjustments to the nitrogen plans demanded by BBB, harsher measures against asylum by JA21, and a pause on late-term abortions, home abortions and surrogacy demanded by the SGP are now joint demands by all three parties.

The move makes prime minister Jetten’s plans for broad support in which parties across the political spectrum back his plans, even more unlikely.

So far, opposition parties on the left and the right have said the coalition must choose a direction: side with left-wing parties like PRO and Volt, or with the right wing. Within the coalition, D66 and CDA prefer the former option, but the VVD has been leaning rightwards.

The letter contains a number of potentially intractable policies. Ending an obligation to the so-called “spreading law”, which requires all councils to house a fair share of asylum seekers, is something asylum minister Bart van den Brink (CDA) has said he cannot commit to.

Dropping the defence tax is particularly sensitive for the CDA. The SGP’s demands on abortion and surrogacy will clash with D66’s stances, broadcaster NOS reported.

The nitrogen proposals also conflict with agreements the cabinet has said are needed to get permits issued again, and PRO has said it will withdraw its support if the nitrogen plans are substantially changed.