No, he does not think that his fellow villagers in Knegsel used to see him as a politician. And he is actually surprised himself. Yet Laurens Dassen has now been in the House of Representatives for more than four years. As party leader for the Volt party, he blames the ‘old parties’ for a lack of courage to change things.
In episode 6 of ‘Brabant Kiest, the podcast’ Arjo Kraak and Ilse Schoenmakers talk with Laurens Dassen. Son of a Philips director who grew up in Knegsel and was completely immersed in village life there. He played in the brass band, celebrated carnival and played football in the first team of Knegselse Boys. His dream? Becoming a footballer at PSV.
But after studying business administration in Nijmegen, he ended up in the banking world, at ABN-AMRO. Until his father sent him an article from a newspaper about a new European party: Volt. The spark flew. He lived off his savings for years so that he could devote all his energy to setting up a Dutch department of Volt.
“I thought if I know it all so well in the café, then maybe I should go into politics after all,” says Dassen, laughing. According to him, it was the rise of populism that was decisive: Brexit, the election of Trump in 2016.
And what is populism according to him? “I see that when people talk their way around, without there really being a plan behind it. Take nitrogen: say you’re going to Brussels to settle it head on, but that turns out to be impossible at all.”
‘Continue to standardize’
Initially, he often strode angrily towards the interruption microphone, for example when Geert Wilders was speaking. He still does that, albeit a little more controlled. “You have to continue to standardize,” he says. “But I now also contrast it with my own views.” For example, during such an interruption he recently started talking about a European army, basic income and ‘cultured meat’.
As for more European unity, that’s what Volt was founded for. “We want a United States of Europe,” says Dassen. “A European army, because we no longer want to be dependent on Trump for our security. And we want to work together towards a better climate.” But as far as he is concerned, not all control needs to go to Europe, ‘because what you can do in the Netherlands you must continue to do here’.
‘Simplify the system’
Basic income is another revolutionary plan from Volt. It cannot yet count on support from other parties. According to Dassen, this makes all surcharges redundant in one fell swoop. He lists the concrete amounts from memory: 270 euros per household, supplemented with 108 euros per adult and 260 euros per child. A single person would receive 330 euros per month. “We simplify the system and we create peace and space in the wallet,” he says.
Dassen sees the billions of investments that the Netherlands is now making to keep Tata Steel afloat as wasted money. Volt wants to build a ‘Tata City’ on that site. He realizes that his party’s radical line can make voters shy. This also appears to be the case, Volt now only has two seats in the House of Representatives. He hopes for six seats in the coming elections: “I would rather have six seats with an ideal than thirty seats on quicksand.”
‘Brabant Kiest, the podcast’ can be listened to here: