Cairo’s protests turn into battles. MPs invite bankers to explain why they haven’t cleaned up their act. Problem Poles could get sent home. More than a quarter of Freedom Party voters think Geert Wilders is a minister and the government starts experimenting with higher speed limits. So hold on tight.

Cairo’s peaceful protests turn into battles
After a week of peaceful protests in Cairo, Tahrir Square turned into a battlefield yesterday. All the papers print photos of clashes between anti-government protesters and Mubarak supporters. The two groups stand a few metres apart. If you look closely you see both groups are facing the camera. Only a few demonstrators have turned around and are throwing stones back. Most are trying to get away.

De Volkskrant reports three dead and 1500 people injured. Opposition leader Mohammed El Baradei has called on the army to save lives by intervening. The fighting went on late into the night. The opposition say President Mubarak’s camp has instigated the violence to create chaos. Apparently undeterred, protesters have announced another mass demonstration on Friday to make Mubarak stand down.

Trouw writes protestors were surprised when the army let pro-Mubarak supporters onto the square. Only when a group of 40 armed men moved towards the square shooting at demonstrators, did the army start shooting back. De Volkskrant and Trouw agree the army will have to intervene at some point, but it is unclear which side they will choose. Trouw asks how long the army can remain neutral.

In an interview with De Volkskrant, Egyptian-Swiss philosopher Tariq Ramadan is optimistic. He says: “Egypt won’t become a new Iran, but hopefully a new Turkey.”

Bankers invited to explain themselves
The Netherlands’ top bankers were invited to parliament yesterday to explain why so little has changed in their sector since the economic crisis began more than two years ago. MPs are tired of hearing banks need more time and suggest introducing new legislation. Trouw writes that the banks have set up their own Bank Code, but in December, a watchdog commission said banks have failed to comply with their own rules.

The bonus culture is one of the bones of contention. But ING CEO Jan Hommen says he cannot run a bank without them because of the international environment they work in. Banks in other countries generally pay their employees less, but give them much higher bonuses. Suggestions that bonuses should not be paid while banks still received state support were rejected. Mr Hommen argued that bonuses will make sure the state support is paid off more quickly.

Problem Poles could get sent home
There have been a recent spate of serious car accidents caused by drunken Poles. As a result the problem of unemployment and alcoholism among Poles has hit the headlines. AD reports that councils complain that they don’t know what to do with them.

Many Poles come to the Netherlands to do seasonal work, but find they are exploited by their employers and accommodated in overcrowded houses. When the seasonal work ends, they become a problem. Freedom Party MP Louis Bontes wants to make it possible to deport them. Without realising it, he suggested something that is already possible. If they apply for social security they can be handed over to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service, which can send them back to Poland. However, if they do not apply for social security, they can stay.

CDA MP Eddy Van Hijum says local councils and the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service should work together. He also suggests looking into whether homeless shelters can be regarded as a form of benefits in kind. Homeless shelters are full of East Europeans. Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner agrees with the idea. They could then even be sent back in the same busses used to pick up new workers from Poland.

Voters positive about current cabinet
With the provincial elections coming up in March, nrc.next has published a poll which asked 1000 people what they think of the government so far. The surprising outcome is that more than a quarter of Freedom Party voters actually think Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders is a minister. Apparently, out of the whole population one in six people think the same.

The Freedom Party is propping up the minority government by voting in favour of most of its policies in parliament – but it is not in government and therefore does not have any ministers. Similarly, five percent of voters think Labour Party leader Job Cohen is a minister even though he is in the opposition. But there is some hope, most people have realised that Jan Peter Balkenende is no longer in politics with only one percent thinking he is still a member of the cabinet. Luckily 97 percent of the voters know that Mark Rutte is prime minister, at least they do with a bit of prompting.

The most popular minister is Jan Kees de Jager from the finance office. The least trustworthy minister is Maxime Verhagen of Economic Affairs. The three female members of the cabinet are among the least well-known members of government.

Overall, the current cabinet has scored better in the first hundred days in office than its predecessor under Jan Peter Balkenende, but Mark Rutte is the only member of the government to improve his score since October. In the poll, everyone is optimistic. Voters of the governing parties and the Freedom Party think this government will stay in office for the whole term and a majority of opposition voters think it won’t.

Government to experiment with high speeds
One of the words most used to describe the current cabinet in the above-mentioned poll was “effectivity”. This is probably because it has been quick to introduce some of its more popular policies –such are reintroducing smoking in small bars. Now the government has decided to introduce another one, writes Trouw. It wants to experiment with a 130 kilometre per hour speed limit on four motorways. At the moment the highest speed limit is 120 kilometres per hour.

The first will be the A7 motorway, which is on a dike separating the IJsselmeer lake from the Wadden Sea. From 1 March motorists will be allowed to drive 130 kilometres per hour between the town of Den Oever in the west and the village of Zürich in the east. The other three motorways will follow suit in May. The Freedom Party, which wants speed limits to be increased to 140 kilometres per hour, are delighted with the news – they can’t wait to see the results of the experiment. Let’s hope it is not a bunch of pile ups.