Far right gains in Holland

BBC Learning English
Words in the News
5th
June 2009
Far right gains in Holland
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
bbclearningenglish.com

Exit polls in the Netherlands suggest the far right Freedom Party has done well, coming
second overall. The party's leader, Geert Wilders, said the votes showed the Dutch people had
rejected a European superstate. Stephen Chittenden reports:

If the exit polls are confirmed, Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party will have come from
nowhere to second place in the Netherlands in just a few years. The far right party and its
maverick leader are set to take around 15% of the vote, pushing Labour, which is part of
Holland's ruling coalition, into third place.

If the results are confirmed, the Freedom Party will send at least four members to the
European parliament. Mr Wilders said the Dutch people had sent a message that they're sick
of being ruled from Brussels.

Geert Wilders was banned from the UK after making a film which linked verses from the
Koran with the terrorist attacks on New York and London. He's pledged to use his electoral
success as a springboard for a fresh attempt to visit Britain.

Stephen Chittenden, BBC News, The Hague


Words in the news © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
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bbclearningenglish.com

Vocabulary and definitions

exit polls asking people as they leave a polling station - i.e. a place at
which people vote - about how they voted, to try to predict
who is going to win the election
far right extremely conservative, strongly supporting past values
that most people don't consider to be relevant anymore
maverick someone who thinks and behaves in a way that's different
to most other people
are set to take look certain to win
sent a message here, said in a powerful and memorable way
they're sick of being ruled they no longer want to be told what to do and how to live
banned from here, refused the right to enter
pledged formally and solemnly promised
springboard something that provides opportunity (literally, a
springboard is a flexible board that's used in gymnastics
and diving to help you jump higher)

More on this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8084281.stm

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2009/06/090604_witn_eu_dutch.shtml