Far-right PVV leader Geert Wilders has threatened to dismiss his own junior justice minister over plans to release prisoners early because of the shortage of jail cells, the AD reported on Friday.

Ingrid Coenradie said on Thursday that she planned to release inmates two weeks early because of the crisis, to which Wilders responded with “no way”, the paper said. One source told the AD the shouting was audible outside the junior minister’s office.

Since the end of last year prisoners have been sent home three days early in an effort to free up space for people convicted of serious crimes, but the situation has only worsened since then.

Wilders wants to put more convicted criminals in the same cell – currently 31% are in multiple occupancy units. But Coenradie has said this would be irresponsible from a safety point of view because each occupant would need to be properly screened.

In addition, multiple occupancy cells require more staff to supervise because there are often fights, she said. The lack of staff is one reason for the current shortage of cells.

Wilders is reported as saying that if the minister pressed ahead with cutting sentences, he would introduce a motion of no confidence against her in the lower house of parliament. “Then you will have to resign,” Wilders is quoted as saying.

The paper said Coenradie has now sealed a deal with PVV immigration minister Marjolein Faber to use 45 of the holding cells at Schiphol airport for the next three months as a temporary measure.

Asylum seekers

Faber herself is waiting to hear what the Council of State has to say about three draft laws she wants to introduce to slash the number of asylum seekers coming to the Netherlands.

Those reports are due on Monday and will include considerable criticism, various Dutch media have reported.

The odd comma

The minister said on Friday she is not prepared to make any changes, apart from the “odd comma or full stop”.

Wilders has also said he is not prepared to accept amendments to the legislation, which is part of his plan to introduce “the toughest asylum regime ever”.

However, coalition party NSC said earlier it could not support the legislation if the Council of State recommends against it.