Geert Wilders and friends are constantly telling us the Netherlands is undergoing a process of Islamisation – but what about the unwelcome influence of Christians on the government? asks Robin Pascoe.

An unholy alliance of the three Christian parties and the socialists on Tuesday voted to reform the Sunday shopping laws – to make sure Sunday stays a day of rest in most of the country.
Until now, shopkeepers and local councils have been able to open their doors every Sunday by claiming to be a tourist area. But that is now to change. Only proper tourist areas – Amsterdam city centre and a handful of other towns with nice gables and cheese markets – will be able to claim to be just that.
U-turn
How did we end up taking this backward step? After all, the VVD – the biggest party in parliament and mainstay of the minority coalition – campaigned against the restrictions during the election campaign.
It boils down to political horse trading and expediency. As soon as the coalition deal had been signed and sealed, party leader and prime minister Mark Rutte did a quick u-turn. The loophole should be closed, he said, in what everyone claims is a gesture to the fundamentalist SGP.
After all, the ruling alliance is so fragile, Rutte may need to call on the men in dark suits to support some of his policies in the future. The SGP has two MPs – just enough to head off the threat of defeat if the Christian Democrat dissidents get nasty.
Principles
Nevertheless, the VVD in the senate decided to keep to the party’s principles and vote against the reforms. But that was not enough. The might of the three Christian parties, helped by the Socialists who want to protect workers from being forced to work seven days a week, was enough to pass the legislation.
Thus, thousands of shopkeepers will be forced to keep their doors closed on Sundays to preserve the sensibilities of people who think God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.
The SGP, we should not forget, do not think women should be allowed to vote and say homosexuality is a sin. But our prime minister obviously feels winning their friendship by clamping down on Sunday trading is a fair trade-off. Political necessity makes strange bedfellows indeed.