DutchNews podcast: The Orange Kermispenis Edition

As is tradition in September, the cabinet’s budget for the coming year was strategically leaked weeks before the official presentation by King Willem-Alexander on Prinsjesdag. This week it was revealed that the caretaker cabinet is planning to allocate 2 billion euros to combat the cost of living crisis, following the news that more than a million people were at risk of plummeting into poverty.

Meanwhile, prime minister Mark Rutte, finance minister Sigrid Kaag and foreign affairs minister Wopke Hoekstra were embroiled in a Macchiavellian plot to find a replacement for outgoing European Commissioner Frans Timmermans.

The Sociaal-Cultureel Planbureau concluded that low-level corruption might be more common than you think. A report by Wageningen University showed that nitrogen-based pollution will have to be reduced even more than previously thought, just as nature minister Christianne van der Wal scolded provinces for spending too much on bailing out farmers.

It was a golden weekend for oranje supporters: Max Verstappen won the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort for the third time in a row, the men’s and women’s hockey teams both won European titles, and Femke Bol was the star of the women’s 4×400 relay at the world athletics championships in Budapest.