The papers reflect on yesterday's budget measures and the queen's call for harmony. A cartoonist is let off for discrimination, while Bach drives away troublemakers and moggies comfort their owners.

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Budget cuts felt by everyone
As you'd expect, today's front pages are taken up with yesterday's Budget Day and speech from the throne. The papers have had time to digest the budgetary measures being taken by the caretaker cabinet while the country waits for its new government coalition to be formed.

"De Jager turns off the money tap" says de Volkskrant, referring to caretaker Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager. Caretaker or not, the outgoing government has taken out the knife and, for the first time since the 2008 economic malaise, more or less the whole population will feel its adverse effects in their pockets, warns the paper. The cuts, 1.8 billion euros-worth next year, should deliver 3.2 billion to the treasury by 2015.

For nrc.next, the budget was a hint of things to come if, as expected, we're set to get a right-wing coalition government soon. The cuts announced yesterday point in the direction of massive savings to be made on civil service salaries, integration policy and child daycare over the next few years, it says. The Christian Democrats had many more ideas for slashing public expenditure, the paper believes, but were restrained by the small left-leaning Christian Union party which is still a member of the caretaker administration.

Queen calls for harmonious society
For Protestant daily Trouw, the Queen's Speech marked the "end of an era". In her first sentence, Queen Beatrix warned that the country needed a "stable government", possibly indicating worries about the expected formation of a right-wing cabinet relying on support in parliament from the anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV). She went on to say that "a harmonious society is built upon respect, tolerance and courtesy". The paper reports PVV leader Geert Wilders felt the remarks were aimed at him.

"Everyone to pay" says AD, with purchasing power half a percentage point down, cigarettes dearer and traffic fines up. "We've gone through the biggest crisis since 1930[...] People mustn't think that everything's turned out all right," Minister De Jager is quoted as saying.

Mass-circulation De Telegraaf also picks up on PVV anger at the Queen's Speech. Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders described it as a rubbishy piece, accusing caretaker Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of "rabble-rousing". The paper also runs dramatic photographs of the arrest of the man who threw a small candle holder at the queen's carriage. He apparently shouted "Hand grenade! Fascist!" before throwing the object at the Golden Coach. Angry onlookers pushed him forward and he was arrested by police. He is said to have a history of mental problems.

Are cartoons valid comment or discrimination?
Today's papers cover the news that the cartoonist known only by his pseudonym, Gregorius Nekschot, will not be prosecuted for publishing cartoons on the internet which allegedly "discriminated against Muslims and dark-skinned people". His arrest in 2005, which followed a complaint from a Muslim fundamentalist, sparked protest at home and abroad, says de Volkskrant.

To let us decide for ourselves about the cartoons, the paper prints one of the images. It shows a rather silly-looking figure in flowing robes. Above are the words: A good Muslim woman does not marry a non-believer. The figure, meanwhile, says, "I'd rather marry a mongoloid cousin".

The Public Prosecutor's Office says it still considers the cartoons and accompanying texts to have breached the law. However, it has decided not to pursue the case, because the cartoonist spent two days in prison after his arrest, the cartoons were removed from the internet and the 2005 complaint was the only one received.

The cartoonist is said to be relieved that his identity will now remain unknown. It would have been revealed during a trial and he feared reprisals by Islamic extremists.

His lawyer, while generally welcoming the decision not to prosecute, says in one way it is a shame that the case will not now be tested in the courts and that the law on how far cartoonists can legally go will remain uncertain. He hopes that "this lack of clarity" will not lead to "self-censorship" on the part of columnists, stand-up comedians and other cartoonists.

Bach from a tinny speaker drives away troublemakers
A piece in Trouw tells us that everything has been tried to stop problem youths gathering together and causing trouble: bans on assembly, ultra-high frequencies, ultraviolet light (for junkies), neighbourhood-watch patrols, surveillance teams. Sometimes the measures help; sometimes they don’t. Dutch Rail is trying to stop groups of Moroccan-Dutch youths congregating and causing trouble at Utrecht Overvecht station by playing the music of Bach through a loud speaker.

Trouw paints a depressing picture of the station concourse. What was once glowingly described as an "avant-garde amphitheatre with a triangular glass building" is now a decaying concrete space with a rusting brass sculpture of a tree, the youths favourite place to hang out and cause trouble. The glass building is long empty. Whether Bach's Brandenburg Concertos played from a tinny loudspeaker will drive the kids away remains, says the paper, to be seen.

Cuddling with moggy for comfort
Finally, De Telegraaf, favours pictures of furry, fluffy cats over images of the extravagant hats worn by ladies attending yesterday's opening of parliament spectacle. Yes, it's official: the once level-headed Dutch have gone animal mad.

The paper tells it mass readership that over 50 percent of single people in the Netherlands sleep with their pets on the bed with them. Nearly 80 percent of dog owners believe it's their pooch who really understands them.

When their human companions are low, pets apparently know how to comfort them. While dog owners prefer a good walk, fido in tow, to blow away the blues, cat owners prefer a good cuddle with their moggy. In these health-conscious times, the preferred pet presents to reward man's best friend are wholesome snacks.