The number of agents has still not increased after ten years as Prime Minister of Mark Rutte. According to current forecasts, there will only be more police officers in 2025 than when the National Police started under Rutte.
This while the VVD always talks in campaign time, even now, about the need for more ‘blue’ on the street. But little of this will come of it, according to figures that News hour has requested from the police.
When the National Police started in 2012 (before that it was not one corps, but several regional forces) there were 52,140 officers. That number fell sharply in the years that followed, after a small increase of 17 officers in the first year.
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News hour
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Eventually, agents joined again, but not as many as left earlier. This year’s operational strength is 50,741 agents (including aspirants). If the police forecasts come true, there will be more police officers in 2025 than in 2012.
Four years ago, Rutte promised in Nieuwsuur that the situation at the police would improve. But it has only become more acute, says officer Leen Spoor, who also told Rutte in 2017 that the water is on his lips:
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‘It’s 1 to 12 at the police, we urgently need people’
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There is enough money to pay more agents than there are now. But the police are dealing with understaffing. This is partly because cutbacks have been made to the police academy under the Rutte cabinets. The budget was cut in half. As a result, it turned out to be difficult to train enough extra people when that wish came back.
In News hour Rutte acknowledges that he made substantial cutbacks, “unfortunately on everything”, in 2010. “We were in a serious crisis. Since 2016, 2017 we have been able to invest again, also in the police force. This cabinet is again allocating a lot of money for this. we will certainly continue. “
The Dutch spend more on the government
“More blue on the street” is not Rutte’s only broken promise or failed intention. The tax burden, the part of your income that you contribute to taxes and social security contributions, has only grown during Rutte’s premiership: from 35.0 to 38.8 percent. That while Rutte was still campaigning in 2010 with the text: “An even higher tax is unacceptable for the VVD.”
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The VVD says quite traditionally: the solution is not always more money.
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Rutte does not want to make any new promises “in this special time”, he is skewed brief to all Dutch people. In the same letter he does write that he wants to strengthen healthcare. But whether this will really happen with the VVD plans is debatable.
The calculations by the Central Planning Bureau show that the VVD is increasing health care expenditure by 7.9 billion euros: not an extra euro compared to what would happen if policy remained unchanged. According to the CPB calculations, health care expenditure would in any case grow by this amount.
Rutte thinks that is enough, he says News hour. “The VVD says quite traditionally that the solution is not always more money. You have to be very careful, it is money, which is also reflected in your health insurance premium.”
Only yes men on the list?
Rutte spoke News hour also about the Chamber candidates on the VVD list. Is he organizing enough contradiction? Of the first 21 on the list, nine have previously been political assistants to a VVD leader. There are also group employees on the list and Rutte’s former speech writer.
The JOVD, the youth branch of the VVD, wrote this on Twitter about the candidate list:
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The #VVD candidate list is innovative and diverse, but shows little guts. Especially many insiders, few people from the field and a lack of political experience. Where are those middle class people that the @VVD wants to resurrect? # job carousel https://t.co/Vs9Ew8FDgV
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According to Rutte, he gets sufficient defense in his party: “You really don’t have to tell Liberals what to do, they are anti-hierarchical, they really won’t let me tell them how to do their job.”
What is also striking about the list: Compared to other right-wing parties, there are few entrepreneurs at the top. The top ten of the PVV have in total about 25 years of entrepreneurial experience, that of Forum for Democracy even sixty. The VVD has zero. Only one Member of Parliament in that top ten had a company on paper, but admits that she actually did nothing with it.
This lack of entrepreneurs is also no problem, according to Rutte. “Political office is also a craft, the party is at the heart of society.”
Entrepreneur Ap de Bruin sees things differently. “Don’t laugh, do it now.” He thinks Rutte has lost sight of entrepreneurs:
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video-player"> —-VVD the entrepreneurial party? Not according to this entrepreneur
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