The Government rejects that the differences with Podemos overshadow the measures adopted: each beneficiary of them knows them

The Spokesperson gives as an example the increase in pensions or the SMI and the increase in scholarships

MADRID, 21 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister for Territorial Policy and Government Spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, has rejected today that the differences that are becoming apparent between the two partners of the Government coalition are going to overshadow the measures that the Executive is adopting. In this sense, she has pointed out that each beneficiary of them knows them and has given the example of scholarship students, pensioners or SMI beneficiaries.

Rodríguez made this explanation during the press conference after the Council of Ministers when asked about what the Executive is going to do so that the internal battle of the coalition government does not overshadow the measures that are being adopted to alleviate the effects of the war in Ukraine.

The Government Spokesperson has indicated that the Government will continue working so that the action it is carrying out is known and has argued that beyond the debates that may take place in Congress or this afternoon in the Senate, with the Alberto Núñez Feijóo asked Pedro Sánchez in the control session, there are "millions of Spaniards who are aware of the Government's action because it is directed directly at them".

In this sense, he has given several examples. Thus, he referred to the increase in the budget for scholarships that the Government has approved today and has exclaimed, in relation to the students and their families: "since they are not going to know that the Government is betting on the scholarships, it is that they are looking when going out, how much their scholarship will be next year and making their decisions about their studies depending on that scholarship".

She has also referred to pensioners, assuring that she had spoken with the elderly and with neighbors who "knew that the Government had revalued pensions because they saw how they increased by more than 100 euros on average."

To his arguments he has added the rise in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI), explaining that when the people who receive it collect this month's payroll with 80 more euros, in addition to the 80 in January, "they surely also know that it is a consequence of the action of a government".

Having said this, Isabel Rodríguez has insisted that the Government "works with these people in mind" and has added that they will continue like this until the day they call the next general elections. In her opinion, the Sánchez Executive works "aware of the priorities of the people, thinking of those pensioners, young students and those women, for the most part, who received the lowest salaries in the country."

And although the Government Spokesperson did not want to delve into these discrepancies between the partners of the Government, sources from the Executive explain that some issues, such as Podemos's statement that the Housing Law is not going well, are part of the liturgy of the negotiation .

They were referring to the lowering of optimism made today by the spokesman for United We Can in Congress, Pablo Echenique, regarding the approval of the Housing Law, after meeting with the PSOE, whose parliamentary process has been stalled for months now.

Echenique has promised that his formation will continue to try to improve the stoppage of evictions without housing alternatives for vulnerable families and the regulation of rental prices in stressed market areas.

The Executive sources consulted have also referred to the differences with the purple formation on the measures to alleviate the rise in the price of food, since Podemos considers the drop in VAT on basic items insufficient and believes that a reduction in the VAT should be applied 14 percent in the shopping cart.

However, the socialist part of the Executive believes that the problem in applying this measure is how it is implemented due to the technical difficulties involved. Thus, they point out that it is difficult to apply discounts without excluding retail trade since it is not as easy to carry out as in the gasoline discount, where there are few distributors.

In fact, the sources consulted point out that this measure has already been evaluated and in the end it was decided that the VAT discount would be applied because it is where it could be applied easily. Now, they will wait until the first quarter to see how the collection is going, before deciding whether to adopt more measures.