Column | The VVD, BBB and the agricultural lobby

A reporter from The Telegraph heard Saturday a ‘historical interview’ on the radio. The VVD congress debated nitrogen, and at WNL Former VVD MP Gert-Jan Oplaat went wild on “the applause machine” around Rutte and on Minister Christianne van der Wal (Nitrogen, VVD) who “must step down or stop” because of her nitrogen policy.

I heard it myself, and thought: ah, another ex-VVD politician who stands up for his own industry. Because in itself it is true that Oplaat was a VVD Member of Parliament in 1998-2006. But before that, in 1994, he turned himself as a peasant leader already “against the manure and ammonia policy” of party colleague Jozias van Aartsen, and after his departure from The Hague he returned to agriculture: since 2014 he lobbies for the poultry sector.

So the interview was certainly historically consistent—but “historical” seemed like a lot of credit to this advocate.

You often saw this kind of ambiguity around the VVD congress, where a narrow majority voted against the cabinet’s nitrogen proposals. Helma Lodders, VVD agricultural spokesman in the House in 2010-2021, said she was “sad, angry and disappointed”. But since last summer is she a lobbyist for the cattle transporters (the revolving door still worked) and you thought: is she as angry as a VVD member or as a lobbyist?

In the beautiful NRCreport on BBB, Caroline van der Plas said on Monday that agriculture has such a flawed lobby. Funny that she sees it that way. The opposite always strikes me: no other sector of 50,000 companies occupies so many prominent positions in parties.

For example, in JA21 you have Jan Cees Vogelaar, founder and advisor of a foundation who is willing to litigate against governments and farmers who participate in the nitrogen policy. The chairman of Team Pigs of Farmers Defense Force wrote on Facebook last year that he votes Geert Wilders.

And in the VVD it is buzzing that Lodders and Oplaat (he said Monday the VVD membership on) may switch to BBB. The chairman of the VVD theme network Agriculture, the Overijssel States member Gert Brommer, who left last year due to the nitrogen policy, is already a BBB member. His successor, arable farmer Johan Barendregt, said to BNR that “a lot of people are leaning towards BBB”. Farmer and former CDA MP Maurits von Martels is also already a member of BBB.

So the agricultural lobby, traditionally spread over several parties, is moving towards one party. It is not to say that the lobby is also weakening. Because you would almost forget it because of all the sadness and noise, but for decades the basic principle of climate and nature policy was: the polluter pays. And for farmers this is now becoming: the polluter gets paid. Quite a turnaround, in spite of everything.