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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 2d

Mark Rutte's party, which dominated the 2010s, is set for its worst election result for 65 years on October 29 and leader Dilan Yesilgöz's chances of being in charge at Christmas are receding fast. www.dutchnews.nl/2025/10/clou...

Clouds gather over VVD: “Who’s going to tell Dilan it’s over?” - DutchNews.nl

Members of the right-wing liberal VVD are bracing themselves for a hard landing at the general election in three weeks’ time, with polls indicating the party is on course for its worst result for 50 y...

www.dutchnews.nl

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 3d

250,000 protesters marched through the streets of Amsterdam on Sunday calling on the Dutch government to take a stronger stance against Israel.
To the consternation of finance minister Eelco Heinen, not one of them set fire to a police car. www.dutchnews.nl/2025/10/in-a...

In Amsterdam, 250,000 call on government to get tough on Israel - DutchNews.nl

An estimated 250,000 people took part in a massive protest in Amsterdam on Sunday, calling on the Dutch government to take a firmer stance against Israel and to help end the genocidal violence in Gaza...

www.dutchnews.nl

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 3d

In part two of the @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast series on the the parties contesting the election, we look at the centre-right Christian Democratic Appeal and two parties that broke away from it: the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) and New Social Contract (NSC). www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...

Bonus episode: The main parties contesting the 2025 election (Part 2) | DutchNews

Get more from DutchNews on Patreon

www.patreon.com

Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 5d

Apologies for the late posting of this week's @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast due to scheduling clashes. Plenty to talk about including the election campaign, medical evacuations from Gaza and how much capital you'll need for Karl Marx's former retreat. soundcloud.com/dutchnewsnl/...

The Wouter Koolmees Is Watching You Edition - Week 40 - 2025

The election campaign gets off to an ominous start as Amsterdam puts up billboards with an American accent and Geert Wilders goes rage-canvassing on Twitter. The government bows to pressure to allow a

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 5d

No, I just missed putting it up for the week in between, and this week's is delayed.

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 5d

Rob Jetten's office was targeted by far-right hooligans during riots in The Hague two weeks ago, but the D66 leader says political paralysis is stoking anxiety and distrust in the system. My interview for @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social : www.dutchnews.nl/2025/10/rob-...

"The Netherlands has stood still for 15 years," says Rob Jetten - DutchNews.nl

The Liberal Democratic party D66 is set to make gains in the general election at the end of this month. Its leader Rob Jetten spoke to Dutch News about the hardening attitudes in politics, the housing...

www.dutchnews.nl

Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 8d

This is how the Dutch national press agency ANP labels photographs of snarling far-right thugs waving Nazi-era flags on its website.

We have a serious problem.

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 8d

Blog on the recent far-right riots in The Hague: "When Geert Wilders speaks, he speaks to the hooligans, and the hooligans listen and applaud."
wordsforpress.wordpress.com/2025/09/30/i...

In The Hague, arsonists debate how to contain a bush fire

Photo by Sydney Oats via Flickr The word that kept coming up in last week’s debate on the riots in The Hague was veenbrand – a peat fire. Violent clashes outside council offices and asylum seekers’…

wordsforpress.wordpress.com

Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 9d

Big "Eastern bloc dictator" vibes here.

The Steady State @steadystatevets.bsky.social · 10d

When a president brags about gold accessories as proof of “success,” it projects not leadership but authoritarian pageantry.

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 9d

A peat fire burns on hard dry ground and spreads on a raging wind. Wilders has spent 25 years hollowing out the political debate, poisoning the soil and starving it of nutrients, leaving it as dry and combustible as matchwood. wordsforpress.wordpress.com/2025/09/30/i...

In The Hague, arsonists debate how to contain a bush fire

Photo by Sydney Oats via Flickr The word that kept coming up in last week’s debate on the riots in The Hague was veenbrand – a peat fire. Violent clashes outside council offices and asylum seekers’…

wordsforpress.wordpress.com

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 10d

And because a clutch of parties have adopted this position, it's going to be unavoidable in the election debates. Which means that when other parties try to talk about housing, the discussion will end up gravitating towards immigration. Exactly the strategy that enabled Wilders to win in 2023.

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 10d

Dutch elections: how right-wing parties have radicalised. Four years ago the statement "the solution to the housing shortage is restricting migration rather than building more houses" was the preserve of the lunatic fringe. Now it's mainstream.
www.trouw.nl/politiek/het...

Het Kieskompas laat zien: de rechtse partijen worden rechtser én radicaler

Uit het nieuwe Kieskompas blijkt: voor het eerst in jaren meldt het CDA zich weer in het politieke midden. Op rechts vindt radicalisering plaats.

www.trouw.nl

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 10d

So that's why they have those "no balloons" signs at Schiphol train station.

www.dutchnews.nl/2025/09/dron...

“Drone” that forced Schiphol runway closure was probably balloon - DutchNews.nl

A suspected drone that caused a runway at Schiphol airport to be closed for 45 minutes was probably a balloon, border police have said. Air traffic was diverted away from the Polderbaan shortly after ...

www.dutchnews.nl

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 10d

The Dutch government is planning to extend the naturalisation period – the time someone has to live in the Netherlands before qualifying for citizenship – from five years to 10. www.dutchnews.nl/2025/09/dutc...

Cabinet to make 10 years the new residency standard to go Dutch - DutchNews.nl

With just a month to go before the general election, the caretaker Dutch cabinet is to press ahead with extending the minimum period of legal residence to obtain Dutch nationality through naturalisati...

www.dutchnews.nl

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 11d

Wilders hails the decision to scrap plans for two asylum seekers' centres in Amersfoort a triumph for "non-violent resistance".
Three days earlier a man was arrested for making telephone threats to the town's mayor.

Post by Geert Wilders: "Fantastic news and proof that – non-violent – resistance works! Now for the rest of the AZCs [refugee accommodation facilities] in the Netherlands!" Quotes headline from NOS: "Two AZC locations in Amersfoort provisionally withdrawn."

Headline from Hart van Nederland: "Suspect arrested for threatening mayor of Amersfoort over AZC."
Opening paragraph: "Police have arrested a suspect for threatening the mayor of Amersfoort. The 35-year-old resident of Amersfoort is alleged to have made telephone threats to mayor [Lucas] Bolsius last Thursday because of the possible location of a new asylum seekers' centre in the Vathorst area of Amersfoort.“

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 12d

With less than five weeks to go till polling day, we've made a start on our guide to the 15 parties (yes, fifteen) with a chance of winning seats in the Dutch parliament. This week: the PVV, Forum voor Democratie and JA21. Exclusive to Patreon subscribers. www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...

Bonus episode: The main parties contesting the 2025 election (Part 1) | DutchNews

Get more from DutchNews on Patreon

www.patreon.com

Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 12d

On this week's @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast: How a right-wing protest in The Hague sparked riots and a vicious debate; plans to deny refugees priority access to housing are criticised by the Council of State; and 42 smuggled puffins are hatched at Blijdorp zoo. soundcloud.com/dutchnewsnl/...

The What The Hell Els Could Go Wrong Edition - Week 39 - 2025

The eruption of far-right violence in The Hague destroys the fragile hopes of a civil, constructive election campaign. Housing minister Mona Keijzer keeps Marjolein Faber's legacy alive by ploughing o

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 13d

At least it's not English or Arabic.

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 13d

Here, for example, is the story of 73-year-old Brahmin Aksas, who lived illegally in the Netherlands for 62 years until he was deported to Morocco in June. (He says he's from Algeria, but that couldn't be verified).
ID cards were introduced in NL by the Nazis in 1940. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

62 jaar illegaal hier, maar nu moet meneer Aksas toch écht Nederland verlaten

Terugkeer: Brahim Aksas woont al 62 jaar zonder verblijfspapieren in Nederland. Al bijna tien jaar probeert de overheid hem weg te krijgen – zal het dit keer lukken?

www.nrc.nl

Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 13d

It's weird that British people are so terrified of ID cards.
It's also weird that some politicians act as if they'll magically fix problems with people working in the shadow economy.
It won't. If anything, it'll make them more vulnerable. www.lbc.co.uk/article/digi...

Starmer claims digital ID cards will be an ‘enormous opportunity’ - but critics say they won’t stop Channel migrants | LBC

The Prime Minister was initially sceptical of digital IDs, but has been convinced by senior government figures and world leaders, including President Macron.

www.lbc.co.uk

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 13d

More riots against asylum seekers' centres in the Netherlands, this time in Doetinchem. Police make seven arrests as rioters throw stones and let off fireworks. www.gld.nl/nieuws/83707...

ME voert charges uit bij rellen in Doetinchem

Opnieuw rellen bij het gemeentehuis in Doetinchem. Daar besloot donderdagavond de gemeenteraad dat er een tijdelijke azc-locatie komt die de aankomende drie jaar zo'n honderd asielzoekers moet herberg...

www.gld.nl

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 14d

Far-right protesters clashed with police outside an asylum seekers' centre in Hoofddorp last night, throwing stones and fireworks and burning a Quran.
Today the Dutch parliament is debating the riots in The Hague at the weekend.
Elections on October 29.
www.dutchnews.nl/2025/09/more...

More refugee centre riots as MPs debate right wing extremism - DutchNews.nl

Riot police were drafted in to restore order after a demonstration outside a refugee centre in Hoofddorp near Amsterdam turned violent on Wednesday evening. In total, seven people were arrested. Troub...

www.dutchnews.nl

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 16d

Blog: Dick the fixer. Does the much-maligned prime minister have the political skills to broker a deal on nitrogen emissions? wordsforpress.wordpress.com/2025/09/22/d...

Dick the fixer: The Herculean task that could salvage Schoof’s reputation

Official portrait ofDick Schoof. Photo: Martijn Beekman/rijksoverheid.nl The loneliest man in The Hague last week was Dick Schoof. In what should have been the showpiece debate of the political yea…

wordsforpress.wordpress.com

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 17d

Politicians on the right insisted the riots had nothing to do with politics, but in the words of one banner, it was a day when football hooligans suspended their club rivalries and fought with stones and fireworks to “save the Netherlands” from immigration.

Dutch News @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social · 17d

Riots in The Hague blended far right with football hooliganism www.dutchnews.nl?p=257520

Riots in The Hague blended far right with football hooliganism

www.dutchnews.nl

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Gordon Darroch @gordondarroch.bsky.social · 19d

This week's @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast: the budget debate is completely eclipsed by the election campaign, a pay deal puts an end to train strikes, and science has proven that speaking Dutch is easier after you've had a few drinks. soundcloud.com/dutchnewsnl/...

The Three Vodka Scheveningen Challenge Edition - Week 38 - 2025

Prinsjesdag is usually a day to delight fashion fans and financial nerds, but this year's edition fell short on both fronts as the parties got stuck into the election campaign. Train strikes are calle

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