The news that Holland, home of the Wilders show trial, still bothers with elections is, under the circumstances, something of a relief.

The reason for the upcoming general election, which will be held in the spring, is the break-up of the coalition between the Labour party and the marginally less unappealing Christian Democrats. The reason for that is the two parties’ failure to agree over whether Dutch troops should stay in Afghanistan.

The Dutch friend who emailed me with the news on Saturday comments that the real reason for the split was that the two parties simply “could not work together anymore”. He goes on to add that this “should be the Wilders breakout election,” something that would be “interesting.”

Indeed it would.