The 2017 budget presentation did not hold many surprises – nor did it provide solutions to mend social divisions or restore the faith of people hurt by the government’s tough economic measures, said newspaper editorials on Wednesday.

Trouw’s front page article, headlined ‘the shadow of unease’, focuses on the king’s speech and its rhetoric around key Dutch values. The message is clear, the paper said. ‘They are inviolable…  newcomers have to adapt’. Its aim, the paper said, was to ease the native population’s fears: ‘Everyone is welcome but these are our values. This is the identity of our country.’

NRC.next opened with a photograph of a man in suit and tie cleaning the red carpet in preparation for the king’s arrival. In its editorial, the paper says that the coalition no-one thought possible had pulled off a clever last budget. Plans presented four years ago have been put into action.

‘The budget shows optimism and that [these] policies have largely succeeded,’ the paper said. Nevertheless, this celebratory budget is not being celebrated by the people. And that, the paper says, must give politicians something to think about as they prepare for the general election next March.

The Volkskrant says the cabinet is fighting against its cold, bean-counter image. Prime minister Mark Rutte, the paper points out, has seized upon every interview to stress that everyone has made sacrifices and worked together to get the economy back on track.

New era

But this message has failed to reach a lot of voters, who are unhappy about cuts in healthcare spending and introducing market forces into education and the private sector. And Labour leader Diederik Samsom’s support for reducing the healthcare ‘own risk’ payment is evidence that we are entering a new political era, the paper says.

The Telegraaf opens with a story about video refereeing in football and is scathing about the government in its editorial. ‘Two years ago, Labour finance minister Dijsselbloem promised 100,000 extra jobs,’ the paper points out. ‘It was a shameless promise and those jobs have failed to materialize.’

‘This is also a year of half-truths,’ the Telegraaf continued. ‘They promise more money for defence, but in fact they are just cutting less. And the clear language aimed at immigrants sounds like electoral rhetoric.’

Nevertheless, the paper concludes, the government has managed to strengthen the country’s economic base: ‘And that is not only a thumbs up for the cabinet, but for all the people who have suffered to make it happen.’