Budget debate degenerates into a one-man mud-slinging match. Police are bewildered by attack on Amsterdam court building. While giving birth at night is a risky business, freezing eggs is popular. And a businessman has been told he cannot commute to work by helicopter.

Wilders’ vitriol dominates budget debate
Wednesday’s budget debate dominates the papers today. Rather than getting down to the serious business of scrutinising the raft of austerity measures put forward by Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s minority government, it appears the leader of the Freedom Party Geert Wilders spent much of his speaking time insulting the opposition.

AD headlines with the “Debate with Wilders big swearing match”. Nrc.next presents the party leaders as lead actors in a film “The Usual Suspects”.

Most of Mr Wilders’ vitriol was aimed at Labour leader Job Cohen, who he called the company poodle. He accused him of propping up the government. Mr Cohen pointed out that “only you [Geert Wilders, ed.] can bring down the cabinet,” reports Trouw.

Green Left leader Jolande Sap gave a demonstration on how literally to pull the plug, but Wilders defended his support for the cabinet: “The sweetest thing is that the left is not in the cabinet.”

Trouw writes that neither the conservative VVD nor the Christian Democrats took any action to curb Mr Wilders’ behaviour. Only the opposition parties voiced their objections to the derogatory way in which the Freedom Party leader referred to Islam and his fellow MPs.

Nrc.next writes Socialist Party leader Emile Roemer was so incensed by Geert Wilders’ performance that he asked Prime Minister Rutte directly how long he would put up with him. De Telegraaf reports that Mr Cohen did not rule out tabling a motion of no confidence against the government in Thursday’s debate.

Read the RNW coverage of the story

An attack on the rule of law, but why?
The motive behind an attack on a court building in Amsterdam is still a mystery. It is not clear whether there is a connection between the attack and any particular case, Trouw reports. Police say they are looking for two suspects after several tips from eyewitnesses. Local residents report seeing one man fire what appears to have been a rocket-propelled grenade and a second one picking him up on a scooter.

The grenade made a hole in the wall of Tower E and landed in the stairwell. The explosion shattered windows up to the seventh floor. No one was hurt as the attack took place at night. The tower usually deals with administrative law. An attack on the bunker court in the Amsterdam district of Osdorp four years ago during the trial of underworld kingpin Willem Holleeder was never solved, the paper points out.

Security Minister Ivo Opstelten has called the incident “an attack on the rule of law”. Trouw asks military historian Christ Klep to shine his light on the matter. He says whoever did it, did not know much about weapons.

Freezing eggs – popular, but expensive
Since last April, women have been able to put off motherhood by freezing their eggs for social rather than medical reasons. De Volkskrant looks into how popular the practice is.

When the law was relaxed to allow last-minute mums to put off motherhood to an even later date, the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam was first to offer the service. The hospital expected a rush at first and thought then things would calm down. But “the phone just keeps ringing,” says gynaecologist Mariëtte Goddijn.

There are currently 97 women waiting to freeze their eggs. Ninety-two of them do not have a partner and fear missing the boat. Their average age is between 36 and 37 years old. Very few women come to the AMC to put off motherhood because of their career. In many cases, their relationship has just ended.

But there are exceptions: one woman sees so little of her husband, who is constantly away on business, that she has not had the chance to get pregnant. One couple have decided to freeze the woman’s eggs now so that when they do want children they can use the eggs harvested a couple of years earlier to reduce the risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. However, the law only allows for eggs to be put back if women are unable to get pregnant naturally.

The hospital thinks it is unfair that this group of women have to pay for all their treatment. Freezing costs 400 euros and harvesting eggs costs 3,000 euros per cycle. So to freeze enough eggs for later you may have to fork out up to 15,000 euros.

Read the RNW coverage of the story

Giving birth at night is a risky business
Meanwhile, nrc.next looks into the risks of giving birth. The paper advises mums to go into labour between nine and five. More newborn babies die in the evenings and at night than during office hours.

In 2008 two gynaecologists raised the alarm, saying there was 23 percent more chance of a newborn dying at night than in the daytime. As the neonatal death rate in the Netherlands is relatively high for a West European country, the Ministry of Health ordered the Health Inspectorate to research the matter. Its report, which came out on Wednesday, confirms the fears of the gynaecologists.

For every newborn that dies in the daytime, there are between 1.2 and 2.2 deaths at night. This can be due to tiredness, lack of alertness, but it is also due to a shortage of specialised staff at night. Nurses are less inclined to phone for assistance, which means decisions are taken too late.

Recommendations made in 2010 have already been implemented to improve the situation. The aim is to reduce avoidable deaths by half by 2014 with round-the-clock care. This means having hundreds more nurses, gynaecologists and midwives in hospitals. The minister is looking into the possibilities.

Businessman refused helicopter commute
A businessman in The Hague has been told he cannot commute to work in Rotterdam by helicopter. Millionaire David Hart lives near the no-fly zone above Queen Beatrix’ Huis ten Bosch Palace and De Eikenhorst where Prince Willem-Alexander and his family live, reports AD.

At first he was given permission to fly to and fro by both the mayor of The Hague and the Ministry of Transport. But when his neighbours got wind of his plans, they objected and took the case to the Council of State. The Council says it cannot risk any incident above the properties and has rejected a proposed corridor for the helicopter between the two sites.

Speaking from Monaco, the businessman said he was “not particularly bothered” by the ruling. His neighbours meanwhile are uncorking the champagne.