The top story on the front pages of most Dutch dailies today is that Conservative party leader David Cameron is the new British prime minister. While de Volkskrant has a picture of David and his wife Samantha outside 10 Downing Street, Trouw shows the Browns - Gordon, Sarah and their two boys – in the same location but looking less delighted, shortly before outgoing Labour prime minister Gordon Brown announced he was stepping down.

Being a nation accustomed to coalition government, the Dutch are somewhat bemused by what de Volkskrant points out is the “first British coalition government since the war” except for a short-lived Liberal-Labour Pact in 1977, which wasn’t a ‘real’ coalition anyway. The paper describes Cameron – aged 43 - as the “youngest British prime minister since Lord Liverpool took office in 1812”.

Gordon Brown seems to have somewhat sprung his resignation on Mr Cameron, as coalition talks had not been finalised. But once it had become clear that the Liberal Democrats were leaning strongly towards the Conservatives, Mr Brown packed his suitcases.

Outside his new residence in Downing Street the new Conservative prime minister said he would form a full coalition with the Liberal Democrats. This means Nick Clegg, who is half Dutch, will be deputy prime minister.

Prime Minister Cameron appealed to the British people to help him make real change. In the spirit of late US president John F. Kennedy he said “People should not be asking what their rights are but what their responsibilities are”.

Trouw reports that the Liberal Democrats’ simultaneous talks with both the Conservatives and Labour meant the Conservatives had to make serious concessions to win the country’s third party (in votes and parliamentary seats) over.

The biggest concession is reform of the electoral system, although there is no mention of how the system will be changed. At the moment the largest party in each constituency takes the parliamentary seat. For the Liberal Democrats this resulted in just 10 percent of the seats in parliament while it actually won around a quarter of the total vote.

Bad boys mess up election campaigns
While the United Kingdom is still reeling from the effects of its general election, the Netherlands is in the throes of the run up to its next general election.

Nrc.next compares two very different politicians, “bad boys” who have got in the way of their parties’ campaigns.

The first, Hero Brinkman, has asked voters to give him their preference vote if they want to see more democracy within the ‘controversial’ right-wing Freedom Party. Up to now, party leader Geert Wilders has held a tight rein over any comments made in the press by his party’s political candidates.

Although Mr Wilders is playing the issue down, coming out openly for a fundamental change in the party, such as the introduction of membership for members of the public, is tantamount to mutiny.

It is the party’s Achilles heel, for the Freedom Party is still very much a movement in which one man calls all the shots. A party for freedom of speech which does not allow its own MPs to speak out. No wonder it is plummeting in the polls.

Meanwhile, outgoing Christian Democrat Deputy Defence Minister Jack de Vries has admitted having an affair with a subordinate. The bizarre story broke yesterday after he was forced to leave the marital home and move into barracks as his personal security arrangements make it difficult for him to simply move to a hotel.

Family values are held high in the Christian Democrat party, so Mr de Vries has had to withdraw from the campaign team. Caretaker Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said it was a “private matter”. But nrc.next questions whether the affair puts Mr de Vries’ position as deputy defence minister under pressure. The woman involved, an army major, has been given a different job within the defence department. So far, Mr De Vries has held onto his position.

De Telegraaf quotes the ex-partner of the minister’s mistress, who has served in Afghanistan, “Jack always says he takes good care of his staff. When I came back from Uruzgan in August, I saw how well he had been taking care of my wife. I felt betrayed.”

It’s the economy stupid
There is good news for the environment, according to a survey commissioned by de Volkskrant. Well sort of. Once the Dutch election has been held, just over half of the voters want the Netherlands to continue with its aim of reducing CO2 emissions by 30 percent (10 percent more than EU aims).

With an election coming up, you might think that would be good news for a green party such as the Green Left. Not so. Only three percent of voters feel the issue is important enough to determine who they actually vote for.

What’s more, in spite of 40 percent of voters thinking that politicians underestimate the human role played in global warming, they are not prepared to put their money where there mouths are. Only 22 percent of voters say they think the environment should be given priority over other matters.

The paper concludes that the electorate believes “fighting the economic crisis is more important than fighting the climate crisis,” which is good news for the Christian Democrats and conservative VVD because they want government to play a less active role in environmental matters. So it looks as though the green policies of parties such as the Green Left, Socialist Party, Labour Party and D66 won’t be winning them any votes this time round.

As the bishop said…
Going back to the subject of bad boys, the Dutch Bishops Conference and the Conference of Dutch Clerics convened yesterday to discuss the Deetman inquiry into the sexual abuse of children within the Roman Catholic church.

Protestant daily Trouw reports their unanimous decision that former minister Wim Deetman (a protestant) may continue the investigation into hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse by priests, dating back to the end of the Second World War up to the present day.

In his initial report, presented on Friday, Mr Deetman made the opening of Catholic archives a condition for an independent investigation. But this has not yet been guaranteed. Likewise it is uncertain whether documents in the filing cabinets of Help and Justice, the Catholic church organisation set up for victims of sexual abuse in 1995, will be open to the investigators, because of privacy issues.

The investigation will be limited to the Netherlands to make sure it does not take too long. This means the behaviour of missionaries who may have relocated to countries in Africa because of sexual abuse in the Netherlands will not be included in the investigation.

The paper reports that, while onboard a plane bound for Portugal, Pope Benedict XVI spoke unusually openly about the scandal. He said, “The church has to recognise the awful truth.

Overtime kills
And the awful truth for most employees is that overtime kills you. De Telegraaf cites a study by British scientists which monitored more than 10,000 civil servants over a period of 25 years. According to this research, overtime ruins the condition of the heart.

The findings are published today in The European Heart Journal. Apparently hard workers quite easily add another three to four hours to a full working day, increasing their probability of heart problems by 60 percent.

People who clock off on time do not have an increased risk of heart-related illnesses. So all those election promises no doubt made by the British Conservatives and many of the Dutch parties during election campaigns to get rid of civil servants could actually be good for their health.