Feijóo supports the increase in pensions with the IPC and criticizes the "cynicism" of Podemos with defense spending

He accuses Sánchez of making a budget for the electoral campaign and warns: it is unreal and will put Spain more intensely in the crisis

MADRID, 10 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, today supported the rise in pensions with the CPI of 8.5% that the Government has included in the 2023 Budgets because "the Law says so". In addition, he has criticized the "cynicism" of Podemos with the 25% increase in defense spending and believes that if the PP had done it, they would have held demonstrations throughout Spain.

This has been stated in an interview on Tele 5 collected by Europa Press, where he has indicated that the first thing to do is comply with the current law, which says that they must be updated with inflation.

The second thing, in his opinion, is not to make pensioners pay for the President of the Government's bad economic policy, and thirdly, to bear in mind that pensioners are very concerned about "maintaining the viability of their pensions, and whether their children and their grandchildren keep the jobs.

He has also referred to the increase in Defense spending to warn that "if the PP, in an economic crisis like this one, raises the Defense budget by 25%, the PSOE, Podemos and the independentistas would be holding large demonstrations in Spain against of the militaristic interest of the PP".

But he has clarified that the difference is that the PP is due to Spain and will not be against Spain's commitment to NATO to increase the Defense budget, given the certain risk of an "unjust" war. "It's not going to stay for us," he has made it clear, stating that the opposition must support the government's international commitments. Although they will ask the Executive that when it takes the increase to the Chamber, Podemos does not amend it.

And before the decision of the purple party not to break the Government despite the 25% increase in defense spending, the leader of the PP has warned that "the degree of cynicism in our country is greater every day." "They don't agree with the defense budget, but they will support it," he pointed out.

As for the rest of the Budget, the president of the PP has warned that it is "unreal" and what he will do, instead of getting the country out of the crisis, will be to introduce it with greater intensity into it.

Thus, he has stated that "credible" accounts are needed where the forecasts for growth and tax revenues are real and not ones made for the electoral campaign of the next elections. Something that he has described as very "irresponsible" because in the current situation there are companies that are presenting EREs, freelancers that are closing because they cannot even pay energy costs, and electro-intensive companies such as aluminum, steel or iron, that are closing and doing you are

Feijóo has also referred to his proposal to lower income tax throughout Spain by deflating the rate and recalled that the autonomous communities governed by the PSOE have done "the opposite" of what Pedro Sánchez said in fiscal policy. "They have lowered personal income tax because people can no longer stand paying more to buy the same thing, with the highest inflation in the last 40 years," he exclaimed.

In this sense, he recalled that the socialist presidents are lowering personal income tax while "Mr. Sánchez disqualifies us for making that proposal for all of Spain." Which leads him to affirm that "there are many possibilities that the PP will get a majority to govern Spain".

The leader of the 'popular' has also referred to the increase in energy prices and has criticized the Government for having to pay 40% more for gas due to the diplomatic crisis that it has created with Algeria, whose gas reached Spain for a pipe.

"We had a cheaper gas supplier, the Algerian one, we created an unprecedented diplomatic conflict with Algeria and now we have to buy gas from the US and we have to bring it in gas tankers, in ships, crossing the Atlantic, with what it means in terms of emissions of CO2 and 40% more expensive than the gas we had from the pipeline", Alberto Núñez Feijóo summed up.

In addition, he has criticized that Sánchez has stopped the gas and this decision is being paid by the citizens. "Don't think that the Government pays for it," he exclaimed, recalling that those who had a fixed-term gas contract have now had their prices raised.

He also explained that the fact of doing it only in Spain has meant that the rest of Europe can buy Spanish gas at the price subsidized by Spain. That means that at the end of this year we will be giving away to French consumers around 1,000 million euros, as he has pointed out, making it clear that this is paid by Spanish consumers. "We have made a deal with the Iberian system that the EU has not accepted at the moment," she said ironically.

Feijóo has reiterated that the country's energy policy consists of reducing installed energy capacities in Spain, for example, the thermal plants that have all been turned off, while in Germany there are more than ever working and in Poland too, and the French and British are extending the useful life of nuclear, despite which Spain has said that from 2027 they must be dismantled.

"Therefore, fewer thermal installations, nuclear dismantling, breaking off relations with Algeria with cheaper gas, an increase in gas purchased from the US and an exponential increase in energy in Spain," Feijóo stressed.