Today's papers all deal with the gaffe committed by MP Arend-Jan Boekestijn from the conservative VVD party. De Volkskrant says he has resigned after talking to journalists about what Queen Beatrix said during a confidential discussion yesterday afternoon with 50 members of parliament.

Reporters couldn't believe their luck when a smiling Mr Boekstijn revealed all: the queen is worried about the hype culture in parliament, too many emergency debates and the gap dividing the voters and their political representatives.
 

Confidential discussions, like the one yesterday, between sovereign and MPs were stopped ten years ago after what was said was leaked to de Volkskrant, brags the paper. This time all the MPs were keeping mum, all but one. Two and a half hours after his moment in the media spotlight, Mr Boekestijn resigned. "I very much regret what I have done," he said, "and want to apologise to my colleague MPs and to Her Majesty."
 

De Telegraaf quotes Mr Boekestijn as saying: "People can sometimes do really stupid things". The paper points out that the MP has done really stupid things once too often. He was earlier caught on camera saying his boss, VVD party leader Mark Rutte, "lacked ideas". Just a few months later, he described Chinese people as "slit-eyed" on Twitter. The paper says, despite yesterday's incident, the queen intends to carry on with the confidential meetings with MPs.

 
Early local elections in six municipalities
Moving to local politics, the papers all cover early local elections held in six boroughs yesterday. The polls were held because of boundary changes. Most eyes were on Venlo where Geert Wilders' Freedom Party was not contesting the election. The mainstream VVD conservatives appear to have profited most from the far-right party's absence.
 

Meanwhile, the mass-circulation De Telegraaf has a front-page picture of a smiling Rita Verdonk. The right-wing firebrand is seen celebrating after her Proud of the Netherlands party picked up two seats on one of the new councils.
 

Nrc.next points out that the boundary changes are in fact the amalgamation of smaller town councils to create larger-scale municipalities. It says 'scaling-up' has been the buzz word of the past few decades and is seen as increasing the efficacy of local government.

 
However, the paper contends that public opinion is turning against the idea that big is always better. People are worried that the human scale in local government is being lost and secretly regret the loss of the local town's mayor.
 

An MP from the Christian Democrats (the largest party in the ruling coalition) is quoted as saying: "The big push towards mergers in local government seems to have subsided". However, the paper says the figures show that the mergers are not yet on the decrease.

Major drug trial under fire
Trouw deals with criticism of a trial of a drug for the treatment of lung cancer being carried out on nearly 1500 patients at about 40 hospitals. Health insurance company Menzis says it is unethical to test the drug, which may not work particularly well, on patients while they are denied medicines with proven success rates in dealing with their illness.

 
The Groningen professor heading the trial is incensed about the position being taken by the insurer. "My trial is certainly ethical. At least ten review committees have looked into it. They had no problem with it. I'm being made to look very bad." Menzis is continuing to insist that the trial be reviewed one more time.

 
Authorities target illegal adoption

De Volkskrant says the authorities are planning to get tough with people adopting children illegally from abroad. Marie-Louise van Kleef, the director of the Child Protection Council, says illegal adoption is a growing problem. "That's because fewer children are being offered for adoption from abroad," she explains. "And it's easy to look on the internet for a child."

 
The paper points out that, in the celebrated case of baby Donna in 2005, a Dutch couple who had bought the baby in Belgium were allowed to keep her. It was decided it was not in the best interests of the child to be removed from their care because she had already lived with them too long.
 

To prevent similar situations, the authorities have started putting illegally adopted children in foster homes immediately their cases come to light. Ms Van Kleef points out that cases of illegal adoption have to be brought to court within two years. She says would-be parents know this only too well and operate with this in mind.

 
Autumn storm causes chaos
Finally, the AD runs front-page pictures of the chaos caused by what it calls yesterday's autumn storm that raced across the country. In one photo, scaffolding, four storeys high, is shown torn from a block of flats by the high winds in Hoogeveen. In another, the rear section of a juggernaut lorry hangs precariously over a ditch having been blown from a road in Zwartsluis.
 

The paper relieves us with the news that not too much damage was done. Motorists suffered because of rush-hour delays, but some people appear to have enjoyed the dramatic weather. A man is pictured braving the lashing sand and wind, jogging along the Hoek van Holland coast.