A point of order for the House of Representatives and the Cabinet, number 1 of a maximum of 8.

Dear members of the House of Representatives and Cabinet Rutte IV. I fully understand that you are all at each other's throats and using “the house” to prove yourselves right. If nothing else, it has left me in serious doubt about who on earth I am supposed to vote for now.

Lies and deceit, envy, intimidation and other playground tactics pass by in review. How on earth are we supposed to take you seriously when you carry on like this with one another. It sometimes makes for entertaining television, but sometimes also deep embarrassment to watch you decide on our future.

The future that matters so much to so many. To the seniors who have worked their whole lives and are afraid their pensions will be cut. To the young people teetering on the edge of, or trapped in, depression, who no longer know where to turn. To the employees of a company that is no longer sure of its future, where the tears are closer than the laughter. To the entrepreneurs who watch everything slip away beneath their feet and no longer know who exactly is standing up for them. To the parents of children who don't know who to believe about what to do with that vaccine. To the people in healthcare who are at their wits' end because they feel they aren't being taken seriously. To the professionals who want to practise their trade at all costs, no matter what measure, to make sure people are properly trained or that safety can still be guaranteed, and to the children who absorb all the tension at home, walk around school in face masks and witness their parents arguing.

Members of the House of Representatives and the Cabinet. Pull your proverbial heads out of the sand and start governing. Stop hiding behind advice and debates that are beside the point right now. Stop with the lies and deceit that do nothing to improve your credibility. Stop paralysing sectors that genuinely can operate safely and that truly put the health of their visitors and staff first. Stop forcing your principles down our throats and trying to punish the public for daring to voice their opinion. Stop trying to hammer fear and doubt into people by cracking down hard — all you're doing is making it worse. Start governing and stand up for the safety of us, the people of the Netherlands.

After watching a “debate” with Geert Wilders, I am certain of it: you have not the faintest idea what you are doing or what interests are at stake. With a few exceptions, of course. Get out onto the streets, mingle among the people, see the tears and the despair, taste the fear and the doubt, go without money for once, the way so many people are living right now. Only then can you make real decisions, instead of being more preoccupied with and against each other than with us.

In my case it's swimming safety, a headache of a dossier for a great many people in the trade. How on earth are we, the professionals, supposed to make sure no children drown when all you do is play a game of cat and mouse without opening your eyes to the danger looming. Every single day I am working alongside colleagues to convince you of the dangers lurking out there. We are talking about children — your children, our children and our pupils — who because of “measures” are limited in their ability to learn to swim, or cannot learn at all.

As I have said before, talk to the people on the floor, not just the people behind the desk with their subsidised jobs who only tell you what you want to hear, as happens in so many sectors. Put on your swimming trunks and get into the water and sit in on a swimming lesson. I warmly invite you to work with the youngest children and see for yourselves how important this work is for the 300,000 diploma swimmers and the more than 200,000 children on the waiting lists. Not to mention the thousands of children left powerless at home because of the QR code. Be sensible, do what you were elected to do and what you are paid to do. Start governing!!!!!!!