Talks on forming a coalition government between the two Liberal parties, Labour and the left-wing greens GroenLinks stranded on Tuesday evening on differences about how much to cut from government spending.

The four parties were in their third week of talks on forming a so-called purple plus cabinet, named after the combination of party colours.
VVD leader Mark Rutte said a very real effort had been made to bridge the differences between the parties but in the end the talks ‘broke down down over the finances’, Nos tv reported.
Cuts
The VVD wants to make cuts between now and 2015 of €18bn – a figure the party says is the bare minimum. Labour, D66 and GroenLinks say this was too much.
There are also sharp differences between them about reforming mortgage tax relief and introducing a tax on motoring.
The VVD is opposed to cuts in the mortgage tax break and road pricing. The other parties want mortgage reform and a kilometre tax.
Definitive

Rutte described the break as definitive. ‘There will not be a purple cabinet,’ he was quoted as saying.
The other parties were less final. ‘I never say never,’ Labour leader Job Cohen said.
‘We knew before we started it would be difficult. Everyone did their very best,’ the Telegraaf quoted him as saying.
D66 leader Alexander Pechtold and GroenLinks’ Femke Halsema both said they were very disappointed with the outcome.
Three parties
Rutte will now advise the queen to look to forming a right centre left coalition between the VVD, Labour and Christian Democrats, Nos said. ‘Given the circumstances, that is the most likely option,’ he said.
The VVD took one more seat than Labour in the June general election, giving it the upper hand in the cabinet formation process.
But Labour leader Cohen opposes such a three-party groupimg because it involves two parties which lost support in the general election: Labour which lost three seats and the CDA which lost 20.
The two negotiators Uri Rosenthal and Jacques Wallage are expected to present their report on the negotiations to queen Beatrix on Wednesday afternoon.
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