” Thumbtack ! That’s seven years of work that we’re about to throw away! » Michel Barnier’s budget copy makes Ensemble pour la République (EPR) deputy Charles Sitzenstuhl jump. If the details of the next finance bill have not yet been presented, the Prime Minister has announced the color: out of 60 billion euros to be found, he provides for 20 billion in additional taxes. A figure which constitutes a provocation for the presidential camp.
Gabriel Attal, in a long message to EPR deputies Thursday evening, took the lead in the resistance. In substance: “There is no question of letting what we have accomplished over the last seven years be undone. » Joined on this line by Gérald Darmanin who has already threatened not to vote at all “tax increase, taking over the leadership of François Hollande with whom Emmanuel Macron broke”the duo tries to embark the troops in a “scorched earth strategy”, some denounce.
“It’s a dead end”
Renowned for his orthodoxy in matters of public accounts management, Éric Woerth opposes their arguments. “I understand Gérald’s point of view on tax increases, but given the seriousness of the situation, it is a dead end”he believes. More than the budgetary philosophy instilled by the new Prime Minister, it is the taste for revenge that drives Attal and Darmanin.
“Gabriel did not succeed at Matignon, so after him no one should succeed”, tackles a pillar of the group. As for his sidekick, “he makes Barnier pay for his departure from the government, snaps a former minister. If he had been appointed to the Quai d’Orsay, he would not have moved.” Whether consistent or vindictive, the hitch is powerful enough to drive the “strong in mouth” of the group.
Last weekend, 27 of them published an op-ed opposing any tax increase. At the initiative of this text with Mathieu Lefèvre, the deputy Charles Rodwell maintains that another path is possible and, above all, he hardly appreciated Michel Barnier’s outburst towards his predecessor. “Mr Attal, I will be very attentive to your proposals for additional savings, very attentive… to deal with the deficit that I found when I arrived. »
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Rodwell in turn draws: “ With all due respect, we did not wait for Michel Barnier to start working. » Mathieu Lefèvre investigates by brandishing the reforms completed before the dissolution which are only waiting to be implemented, such as those of unemployment insurance or the civil service. “It’s on the Prime Minister’s desk, all you have to do is sign”says Lefèvre in the tone of an inspector of finished work. The member for Val-de-Marne already has his finger on the trigger. “Let me be clear, I will not vote for an increase in corporation tax, nor a reduction in the reduction of social security contributions on low wages. »
Political positions
In the second line, the silent ones, even the haggard ones still stunned by the dissolution, confess a certain embarrassment in the face of the radicalism of their colleagues: “Like it or not, Barnier inherits a situation for which we are partly responsible. This should lead us to a minimum of modesty, not to set ourselves up as guarantors of budgetary stability…”, whispers someone close to Élisabeth Borne.
Another figure from the presidential camp deplores above-ground political postures: “If they spent a little more time in the ring, they would realize that their voters do not necessarily take a dim view of the effort required of the wealthiest, and that on the contrary, this little cynical game which consists of weakening Barnier is very poorly received. »
This morning, aware of the division that is gaining, Gabriel Attal brings together all the group’s deputies by videoconference “so that everyone can express themselves”, he promises, before setting the line on the 8 p.m. news. It is hard to imagine the soldiers raising their voices to publicly contradict the former Prime Minister and the former Minister of the Interior.
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