The Netherlands: a “political mess”

On 15 March, Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), is set to become the biggest party in the Netherlands.

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Geert Wilders' far-right Party for Freedom is gaining ground in the Netherlands
(Image credit: Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo)

On15 March, Geert Wilders' far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), is set to become the biggest party in the Netherlands, says Simon Kuper in the Financial Times. The party is running on an "explicitly Islamophobic ticket" and has promised to close all mosques in the Netherlands and ban sales of the Koran. Other policies include a ban on all asylum seekers and a referendum on a Dutch exit from the European Union. Wilders' views, which include regularly describing Moroccan immigrants as "scum", explain why the 53-year-old has been under 24/7 state protection for the past 13 years.

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Emily Hohler
Politics editor

Emily has worked as a journalist for more than thirty years and was formerly Assistant Editor of MoneyWeek, which she helped launch in 2000. Prior to this, she was Deputy Features Editor of The Times and a Commissioning Editor for The Independent on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph. She has written for most of the national newspapers including The Times, the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, The Evening Standard and The Daily Mail, She interviewed celebrities weekly for The Sunday Telegraph and wrote a regular column for The Evening Standard. As Political Editor of MoneyWeek, Emily has covered subjects from Brexit to the Gaza war.

Aside from her writing, Emily trained as Nutritional Therapist following her son's diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes in 2011 and now works as a practitioner for Nature Doc, offering one-to-one consultations and running workshops in Oxfordshire.