In the debate, CDA and D66 were full of praise for the ‘movement’ they saw the VVD making, but GroenLinks and PvdA welcomed the handout less enthusiastically. “You cannot solve the housing crisis with small steps,” says PvdA leader Lilianne Ploumen. She argued for a complete abolition of the landlord levy, but Hermans ‘really went a step too far’. “Mrs Ploumen only wants to work together if I agree with her 100 percent, or if she dictates her wishes to me.”
CDA faction leader Pieter Heerma was delighted with the movement within the VVD. His party would prefer to get rid of the landlord levy completely, just like the left-wing parties. “I have heard Mrs Hermans make a movement that I have not yet heard the VVD make. The VVD gives space.
Hermans tried to persuade Klaver to conclude a deal after his contribution. She thinks he is too easy to sneer at ‘a billion dollars’. “I understand that you want more. I also want more. But together we can do more, we can still take a step. Do you want to think about that?”
But Klaver is not to relent for the time being. He believes that it is not the finances, but the problems that should come first. “This is not the type of politics I want to engage in,” he told Hermans.
Tomorrow it will be the turn of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte. It will then also become clear whether the budget will be further adjusted.
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