It was quite an achievement for late night TV chat show Pauw & Witteman to get all nine outgoing VVD ministers in the studio last night. There was some serious probing – defence minister Henk Kamp in particular was grilled over allegations that Dutch troops had tortured Iraqi prisoners.

One of the more light-hearted revelations came from finance minister Gerrit Zalm who admitted that he played computer games between meetings, something his successor Wouter Bos will not have time to do, Zalm said.
Perhaps most squirm-making moment was archive footage of party leader Mark Rutte and integration minister Rita Verdonk attempting to rock&roll at a VVD party conference.
Health minister Hans Hoogervorst was one of several ministers who said he did not know what his next job would be. Footage of him miming being sick during a speech by Bos will probably not boost his chances of joining the public sector.