the socialists “were humiliated by Sébastien Lecornu”, believes LFI MEP Manon Aubry

franceinfo’s “La Matinale” receives Manon Aubry, La France insoumise MEP, Monday November 3, to address in particular the debates on the budget which are continuing in the National Assembly and the Zucman tax.

This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the interview above. Click on the video to watch it in full.

Alix Bouilhaguet: The socialists obtained many concessions from Sébastien Lecornu, including the abandonment of 49.3, the suspension of pension reform and the renunciation of the freezing of retirement pensions. And you, the Insoumis, what have you obtained for the French?

Manon Aubry: The reality is rather that the trap is closing on the socialists and that they have obtained no concessions from the government. The suspension of the pension reform is not a suspension, it is a delay in its application over time. From the 1969 generation, retirement at age 64 will apply in exactly the same way. For the rest, the freezing of retirement pensions was defeated in committee, in particular because the votes of the Insoumis were there to defeat this part of the budget. But there remain in this budget the worst horrors that we have never seen in decades, whether it is the reduction in APL, the increase in the out-of-pocket cost for medicines or for the medical consultations you have, or the attack on long-term conditions. Finally, the Socialist Party presented the Zucman tax as a form of totem, a tax that we had defended for a number of years.

The Zucman tax was rejected by the National Assembly…

I am officially asking the question to the Socialist Party, which had made the Zucman tax one of the red lines not to be exceeded by this government. The reality is that they were humiliated by Sébastien Lecornu. So I solemnly ask them: when will they censor the Lecornu government and when will they come to their senses?

Besides, the budget is going to be rejected because in the end, you have bits that come from here, bits that come from there, it no longer makes any sense and it remains an austerity cure, a social sacrifice like never before for the French. This budget will be rejected, and in the end, we will have ordinances. We were only 18 votes short of our motion of censure, and I think that the socialists bear a heavy responsibility for the impasse we are in today, because they are realizing that they are the turkey of the joke.

Friday October 31, deputies adopted a tax on unproductive wealth against the advice of the government. This tax taxes not only real estate but also valuable assets. Its target is broader than the real estate wealth tax (IFI) decreed by Emmanuel Macron, which only taxed real estate. Why did the Insoumis vote against?

If the target is broader, there are two main problems with this tax. This tax will introduce a new exemption, particularly for main residences worth 1 million euros. Second problem, they are lowering the tax rate, which was progressive before and which will now be limited to 1%. If you want to broaden the tax base, to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of tax, then you need a real wealth tax. If you exclude all financial assets, knowing that the biggest billionaires we are talking about like Vincent Bolloré and Bernard Arnaud, a large part of their fortune is financial assets, then we cannot talk about tax justice, especially if you reduce the tax rate. The reality is that this budget will make the poorest pay for gifts to the richest.

Click on the video to watch the interview in full.