The government is doing too little for the growing group that is getting into trouble due to extremely high energy prices, party leaders Attje Kuiken (PvdA) and Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks) say in a joint interview with NU.nl. Opposition parties want a cap on energy bills this year. “I hope the cabinet also hears the cries of despair from society.”
“I keep hearing how badly the cabinet members think prices are rising so much. Then do something about it, otherwise it’s free mercy,” Klaver says in his office in The Hague, clapping his hand on the table.
Chick sighs, “People have health and mental problems. Debt counselors can’t even do their jobs anymore.”
Both have been insisting on more government action for months. The extra billions already allocated to ease the pain of rising energy prices are not enough in their view.
The next emergency package, reportedly worth around € 15 billion since January, will come too late, they say. An emergency fund yet to be created for people who cannot pay their energy bills is humiliating, they think.
Frustration is growing over the lack of extra aid this year. Minister Carola Schouten (Politics of Poverty) had a “patronizing tone”, she was told this week by an angry Klaver. “She didn’t answer at all!”, Says the leader of the GroenLinks, still irritated.
Left parties therefore want a ceiling on the energy bill as soon as possible. A family with an average consumption therefore reaches a monthly amount of 239 euros.
Where is your biggest frustration?
Klaver: “You saw it coming for months. In March we asked the government for a ceiling on the energy bill. The government is going from one crisis to another. The only constant is that people are falling below the minimum. of subsistence “.
“The government slept or lied saying it didn’t know what was going to happen. Both are guilty.”
Is a price cap the solution?
Kuiken: “It’s an important step. The energy bill will be three or four times higher for many people. Our proposal saves hundreds of euros for all those people.”
“The toilet needs to do more for low and middle incomes, for the self-employed and for SMEs. With our proposal you can really make a difference. The difference between taking a hot shower or not, getting into misery or not. It is. possible, this is what the energy companies themselves say “.
Klaver: “Our proposal affects 70 percent of families. This government has abandoned the middle class. People with 40-hour jobs can’t make ends meet.”
Do you think the government is doing this knowingly?
Klaver: “You can’t solve the war. But here with politics you can prevent a lot of misery. Intervening in the energy market. This is absolutely necessary, because the group that is affected is growing. It’s not just the real thing anymore. poorer … Even the middle groups. “
Kuiken: “We need to do something about rent levels and make homes more sustainable. The government doesn’t pay enough attention to what happens in people’s homes. They are too busy with each other. With short-term solutions.”
A cap on the energy bill is also for the short term.
Klaver: “With Prinsjesdag we find structural solutions. We will tax the rich and those who work less heavily. We will continue to work for, for example, a higher minimum wage and energy savings.”
This government is already taxing wealth more heavily.
Klaver: “That’s also what you expect from the government. When do you help people? We believe that the welfare state is there for everyone, the government thinks that the welfare state is only needed when people have already fallen on the ice.”
“The government is working on an emergency fund for people who can no longer pay their energy bills. It’s too late, so you’re already over the edge.”
“Someone recently told me: I really want to keep my pants on, but the belt and suspenders have been taken away.”
Kuiken: “Such an emergency fund is also very humiliating. Nobody wants debt. This causes stress and misery. Once you go into poverty, you take it with you for the rest of your life. You really have to come from another planet if you do I think this will really help. “
Is the government detached from reality?
Klaver: “Yes, absolutely. If Prime Minister Mark Rutte really thinks that people can wait until January to ask for help, he has no idea what’s going on in the Netherlands and with families.”
“Parents with children now receive letters from the school about the parental contribution. The contribution from sports clubs must be paid. E guess what: children are growing up, so they need new sports clothes. Food is becoming more and more expensive. “
“If nothing is really possible this year, we will accept it. But it is not. We already said it in March. The energy bill can now be reduced in November, but the government is not doing it.”
GroenLinks and PvdA can reject the plans in the Senate, because the coalition does not have a majority there. Will you use that power tool?
Klaver: “It has to relate to the content. We think we have a good thing. We will discuss this first in general political reflections next week.”
You’ve had that conversation since March, aren’t you too gullible?
Klaver: “We are not anticipating it now. This is our plan and it works! It refutes only because it is not possible. Then there will be deafening silence.”
Kuiken: “We’ll see what happens next year next week. We’re making one last attempt to organize something this year. Does the government want to improve our plan? Very cool. Do you want to put your name on it?” Be my guest. If only something happens! “
Is this a desperate attempt to make contact with the toilet?
Chick: “I feel the desperation of the people at home.”
Do you feel taken seriously by the toilet?
Klaver: “They don’t take the problems in the Netherlands seriously. I keep hearing how terrible the cabinet members are, but they don’t go through with it.”
Kuiken: “People want something to happen now. I hope the government will also hear the cries of despair from society.”
–
