The four parties in talks on forming a new government have shrugged off claims made in the AD newspaper that the CDA is torpedoing every proposal made which relates to the environment.

CDA stalwart Herman Wijffels told the AD that current party leader Sybrand Buma has no idea about climate change and that his total faith in market forces had turned him into the Dutch Trump.

Sources close to the talks also told the paper that Buma had blocked every ‘green’ proposal put forward for possible inclusion in the coalition agreement if it would have an impact on household spending.

While VVD leader and prime minister Mark Rutte is prepared to accept some form of green taxation, ‘Buma is being difficult’ the sources said.

VVD parliamentary party leader Halbe Zijlstra told reporters on Thursday that ‘very little’ of what had been said is accurate. D66 leader Alexander Pechtold said ‘everyone is doing their best to make something of it’ and GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver said: ‘We have confidence that we will do good things for the climate.’

The four parties are now in day 57 of the formation process. Negotiation leader Edith Schippers is due to give a press conference about progress so far later on Thursday evening.

She told MPs in a briefing on Thursday afternoon she still aims to have a new government in place before the summer parliamentary recess.