Dutch government COLLAPSES as PM resigns after far-right Geert Wilders withdraws from coalition in asylum-seeker row
THE DUTCH government has collapsed after Gert Wilders withdrew his far-right party from the coalition amid an asylum row.
Hours later, Prime Minister Dick Schoof declared he would offer his resignation.
2
Wilders' PVV party was the largest in the coalition.
Schoof slammed the decision to pull out as "irresponsible and unnecessary".
He added: "As far as I'm concerned, this shouldn't have happened."
Earlier in the day, Wilders said he intended to become Prime Minister.
A snap election is expected to follow.
.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Europe's central bank expected to lower interest rates as Trump's trade war threatens growth
Lower inflation and concern that U.S. President Donald Trump 's trade war will slow already modest growth have cleared the way for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates at Thursday's policy meeting, a step that would lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses and promote economic activity. With a cut widely expected by market analysts, a key question is how low the bank will go, given uncertainty about the impact of U.S. trade policy on Europe's export-dependent economy. Bank President Christine Lagarde will face questions about the bank's outlook for coming meetings at her post-decision news conference. A cut of a quarter percentage point would be the eighth rate cut since June 2024 and would take the bank's benchmark rate to 2%. Trump on April 2 announced a 20% tariff, or import tax, on goods from the European Union. He later threatened to raise the tariff to 50% after expressing dissatisfaction with the progress of trade talks with the EU. Trump and the EU's executive commission have agreed to suspend implementation and any retaliation by the EU until July 14 as negotiators seek to reach agreement. Trump added more disruption this week by suddenly increasing a 25% tariff on steel imports to 50% for all countries except for the U.K. The threat of even higher tariffs has raised fears that growth will underperform already modest forecasts. The EU's executive commission lowered its growth forecast for this year to 0.9% from 1.3% on the optimistic assumption that the 20% tariff rate can be negotiated down to no more than 10%. Low inflation has bolstered the ECB's ability to cut rates. Annual inflation for the 20 countries that use the euro fell to 1.9% in May from 2.2% in April as energy prices eased. The ECB raised rates to a record high of 4% to suppress a 2021-2023 inflation outbreak that reached double digits. But with inflation now below its 2% target, the bank has more freedom to cut. Lower rates make it cheaper to borrow and buy things, supporting demand for goods and in theory increasing spending and investment.
Telegraph
18 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Spain launches another tax raid on British holidaymakers
Are you a holiday let owner affected by the Spanish government's new tax? Get in touch money@ Spain's socialist government is planning a tax raid on British holiday let-owners in the country. The ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party wants to charge 21pc VAT on stays of less than 30 days – more than double the rate paid by hotels. It comes as Madrid lawmakers take aim at foreign property investors as part of efforts to tackle high housing costs. Draft legislation put before the Spanish parliament would raise taxes on owners of short-term tourist rentals from the current rate of zero. The levy rate paid by hotels is just 10pc. Unveiling the new bill last month, housing minister Isabel Rodriguez said: 'Homes are for living in [...] the measures seek to guarantee the right to rental housing for families.' The proposed change is part of the same legal push to impose a 100pc purchase tax on the sale of Spanish property to non-European Union buyers and also includes higher taxes for second homes and vacant properties. Alex Radford, partner at Spain-based law firm English Solicitor & Abogado, said: 'The VAT has got more chance of being implemented than the 100pc tax on a property bought by a non-European.' He said that if approved, the bill would likely increase the cost of holidays and lead to fewer available holiday lets in Spain. 'We would envisage that the rental [market] is going to be slightly more expensive. If owners have to add 21pc VAT to the cost of a rental, then we would expect rentals to decrease and people will look at other countries.' 'It's still early days and we don't know what will get approved and what will not,' Mr Radford added. 'Britons are the number one enemy' Millions of Britons who visit and live in Spain face losing out because of the new laws, which will undergo scrutiny and potentially amendment before being voted on in the second half of this year. There were more than 260,000 British expats living in Spain at the last official count in 2020, while it received 1.6 million tourists from the UK – more than any other country – during the busy April period last year, according to the Spanish statistics agency. Robert Amsterdam, partner Amsterdam & Associates, a law firm that has campaigned against higher Spanish taxes, said: 'The Spanish government is diverting the attention of the Spanish people away from the government's behaviour and they're coming up with the British as enemy number one.' Most estimates place the number of British people who own property in Spain between 800,000 and one million. A figure for the number of British holiday let-owners in the country was not available. British non-residents bought 3,480 homes in Spain in the first half of 2024, making up 38pc of a total of 9,166 properties sold to non-resident non-EU buyers, according to the latest available figures from the General Council of Spanish Notaries and Spanish Property Insight. Growing anti-tourist sentiment in Spain has already seen cities like Malaga and Madrid capping new licences for holiday lets, while Barcelona will ban them completely by 2028. Spanish media reported in January that Barcelona's plans would cost €1.9bn (£1.6bn) and lose the city around 40,000 jobs, based on a report by consultancy PWC. The country's minority coalition government has defended a crackdown on foreign property investors and holiday let-owners as necessary to make more housing available for Spanish people. There is a deficit of 450,000 homes across Spain, according to a Bank of Spain report published this week. In popular tourist destinations like the Canary and Balearic Islands half the housing stock is either holiday lets for tourists or homes owned by foreigners, it said. Javier Peñate, a legal adviser to a holiday homeowners association in the Canary Islands, told Reuters: 'The sole objective is to put an end to these activities and leave [tourism] in the hands of hoteliers.' Short-term rentals in the province already pay 7pc VAT, as do hotels.
The Sun
18 minutes ago
- The Sun
Top European holiday destination to let British travellers skip lengthy passport queues this summer
HOLIDAYMAKERS heading to Portugal will face shorter airport queues THIS WEEK with Brits able to use e-gates. The sunshine destination will become the first country to allow UK passport holders to use the system since Sir Keir Starmer struck a deal with Brussels. 1 Travellers have had to queue to have their passports stamped when arriving for their break since the UK left the European Union - often leading to long queues. Around 2.5 million people head to Portugal each year with more with 300,000 heading to the Algarve. Around 50,000 Brits live in the country. It has now been confirmed that holidaymakers heading to Faro airport will be able to use the hi-tech system. Europe relations Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said: "The historic deal that we signed with the EU on May 19 is in our national interests - good for bills, borders and jobs. "It slashes red tape and bureaucracy, boosts British exporters and makes life easier for holidaymakers. "Indeed, I'm delighted to confirm this morning that Faro Airport in Portugal will start the rollout of e-gate access to UK arrivals this week." Only last month, EU relations minister Thomas-Symonds strongly hinted that Brits will face less time waiting at border control. He said: 'I would love to see you being able to go through the border more quickly in that way. 'That's certainly something we've been pushing with the EU and I think that will be something that will be very helpful to British people.' The Prime Minister revealed details of Brits using e-gates during the first summit between Britain and the European Union. But the use of e-gates had to be given the green light by individual countries. The PM came under fire by explicitly saying that ''Brits travelling to Europe will now be able to use e-gates'.
