Senate demands increase in Justice, Security budget

The vast majority of the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, is demanding that the cabinet increases the budget for Security and Justice. All parties except for the coalition parties VVD and PvdA supported the motion brought by the CDA and SP, Parool reports. The motion asks that more money be made available to the judiciary, the police, the Public Prosecutor, the probation service, the Netherlands Forensic Institute and for access to the court. This is bad news for the cabinet, as the support of several opposition parties will be necessary to get its plans and budgets through the Senate. According to the newspaper, the Senate threatened to reject the Security and Justice budget in December if Prime Minister Mark Rutte does not make a change soon. "This is really to prevent a bloody nose for you. This is an essential part of the functioning of the legal system. I give it to you in writing, if you do not listen, it will lead to big problems just before Christmas", Elco Brinkman, CDA, said. "We are not voting cattle." During the debate Rutte, VVD, stated that he understands the senators' wishes and demands. But he is sticking to the cabinet's plan to first analyze the risks of the Justice budget and then come up with possible solutions. This will take time - possibly until mid-November.