SP Groningen calls on alderman Diks after ‘derogatory’ statements about poverty | Inland

At the start of a municipal program Promising Start Friday, the alderman gave an interview to the local broadcaster OOG.

Statement

OOG quotes the councilor as saying: “People in poverty should think carefully before starting children.” This immediately led to strong reactions on Twitter on Friday evening.

‘Badining and derogatory’

The statement has also shot the SP group down the wrong way. Party leader Jimmy Dijk wants the alderman to provide text and explanation on Wednesday. He calls Diks’ statements derogatory and bad-tempering. “The councilor has to deal with income support. Just pointing to individual behavior is stigmatizing. ”

Verdict not done

Diks in turn denies having made the offending statement. ‘The Promising Start program helps women to make a good decision about the right time for a pregnancy. A support that we have been offering for years now ‘.

Diks adds that this is very different from ‘the implication that we want to prevent people in poverty from having children. This program does not force women anything. It can help them make an informed choice ‘.

Discontent

Before her alderman, Diks was a member of parliament for GL. She was discredited because for years she had received the maximum reimbursement for housing costs of 46,000 euros, while the scheme was not intended for that. She received the compensation because she had indicated Leeuwarden as her home address, while she spent most of the time in her apartment in The Hague. After the commotion about it, she refunded the money.

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