2023-04-30 18:29:00
During a speech delivered to the Open Vld activists gathered in Blankenberge on the eve of May 1, the Flemish liberal expressed his desire to put the measure back on the government’s table.
“Last month, the liberal family made proposals to this effect. Not in the newspapers, but at the government table,” said Alexander De Croo, referring to the last budgetary conclave. “Guess who swept these proposals off the table? I’ll give you a thousand: the Socialists! These proposals were non-negotiable ‘provocations’ for them. But apparently people’s minds have ripened. That’s why we will put our proposals back on table, to the government, within the framework of the tax reform”, announced the Prime Minister.
“The problem is not that the strongest shoulders don’t carry enough. Our real problem is the lack of shoulders. That’s where the real inequality lies in our country, the inequality between those who participate and those who do not want to work. (…) We must have the courage to say, on this Labor Day, that there is no shame in working. The real shame is to ‘go to work every day and earn less than those who don’t,’ concluded Alexander De Croo.
The Prime Minister was also skeptical regarding a new institutional round: “Are we going to sink into a new cycle of endless institutional reforms, paralysis and deadlock? As if the life of a single worker would change if service vouchers were the responsibility of the regions rather than the federal government…”
Despite criticism, Rousseau reiterates his proposal on long-term unemployment
In his traditional speech on the eve of May 1, the president of Vooruit, Conner Rousseau, reiterated, despite criticism from the FGTB and the PS, his proposal to limit unemployment benefits for those who would not accept a job as basis following 2 years of inactivity.
“The unemployed deserve respect. Proposals that would aim to stigmatize them and treat them as profiteers can count on a union reaction,” replied Mianda Ulens, of the FGTB.
Earlier in the day, Conner Rousseau had been able to count on the support of the president of the MR, Georges-Louis Bouchez who had estimated, in De Zevende Dag, that Vooruit was on the same line as his party, even more to the right on the questions of immigrants.
“But the Dutchman of Bouchez is not very good. He did not understand well. We do not emphasize the end of the course and the limitation of allowances but on the accompaniment which precedes. We want to help the people; protect them from unemployment and poverty”, insisted the president of the Flemish socialists.
The latter is also supported by Paul Callewaert, the president of Solidaris. “We think that basic jobs are a good idea”, as long as it remains correlated to the economic situation. “If unemployment rises once more, this measure should be curbed,” he said.
In order to allocate money to these basic jobs and to help workers in other ways, Conner Rousseau pleads for the big fortunes to be put to work. “There should eventually be a capital gains tax, there should be a wealth register, even if a millionaire’s daughter doesn’t want it,” he said, targeting the Secretary of State for the Budget, Alexia Bertrand (Open VLD).
“If everyone pays their taxes honestly, they can go down for everyone. But for that, you first have to know where the money is. Only then can we collect taxes properly. And it is only then that we will be able to grant social benefits in a fair way”, further affirmed the president of Vooruit
Finally, the party will present its proposals on migration within two weeks. “There too, it will be a story of rights and duties,” concluded Conner Rousseau without revealing more.
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