Inspired James downs Dutch to kick-start England's Euros title defence
Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone scored the other goals as England swept the Dutch aside in Zurich and moved level on three points with the Oranje and France, who face bottom team Wales later, in Group D.
France will go top as long as they don't suffer a shock defeat to Wales but qualification for the last eight will now go to the final round of fixtures on Sunday.
That will suit England as Sarina Wiegman's team face Wales with the wind in their sails while France and the Netherlands face off in Basel with their tournament lives on the line.
James' hugely impressive performance, this time on the right flank, against the meek Dutch came in just her second appearance in a competitive fixture since suffering a hamstring injury in April.
The 23-year-old had been a doubt for the tournament but now looks to be approaching her best form after a shaky start to the tournament against France at the weekend.
England started fast like they did against the French and should have been ahead within 10 minutes as Alessia Russo and James, who was moved to the right wing to accomodate Toone in midfield, both missed excellent headed opportunities.
However James made up for her miss with a wonderful individual goal, collecting Russo's pass before shimmying inside and unleashing an unstoppable left-footed shot past Daphne van Domselaar.
The only criticism that could have been levelled at England is that they should have been further ahead early on after creating a clutch of opportunities against the strangely below-par opposition.
But Stanway made the scoreline reflect the balance of play in stoppage time at the end of the first half by drilling home from distance after the Dutch defence again failed to deal with a high ball.
Unlucky Russo had a neat headed goal ruled out for Leah Williamson straying offside almost immediately after the break, but James was on hand to seal the points with half an hour left to play, rolling home on the rebound after superb play down the right flank from Lauren Hemp.
Seven minutes later Toone completed the rout by drilling home low with her left foot and giving England the heavy win which boosted their hopes of reaching the next round.
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