A few hours before the start of Eric Zemmour’s second major political meeting, at the Zénith de Lille, around 300 people had responded to the call to demonstrate from PS mayor Martine Aubry and SOS-Racisme, a call supported by a twenty parties, trade unions and associations. This hostile reception committee did not prevent the far-right candidate from speaking on Saturday, February 5, in front of more than 6,000 people who came to hear his proposals in favor of the purchasing power of the French.
“She dared to say that Eric Zemmour was not welcome in Lille, but who does she think she is? », asked Gilbert Collard, the defector of the National Rally, on the platform, before the arrival of Eric Zemmour in front of the thousands of activists who booed the socialist mayor. “She is the one who has not been welcome in Lille for a long time! According to her, we represent racism and the extreme right. There are no racists or far-right people here but French people who love France, Martine! »
A spade at Lionel Jospin’s former Minister of Employment and Solidarity, taken up by Eric Zemmour on his arrival on the stage around 4:30 p.m. “By coming in such large numbers, know that you have upset someone important here. By being 8,000 in Lille, you hurt Martine Aubry, it’s not good what you’re doing”, he joked before declining his proposals for “increase purchasing power”.
“Zero charge” bonus and cut in aid for foreigners
“We are going to stop wasting public money, we are going to stop funding our own replacement, because it too is funded by your money, hammered the former columnist of CNews in reference to the racist theory of the great replacement. And finally, we will reward hard work and merit. »
In addition to the abolition of the fee for the financing of public broadcasting of 138 euros per year, Eric Zemmour notably proposed “to stop funding immigration so that the social model becomes truly French once more”. To do this, he promises to “put an end to asylum applications” in France and “cut social assistance to non-European foreigners” by reserving access to social housing only to French people.
The former journalist Figaro also promised a new measure for businesses. “I offer the zero-charge bonus to increase income. It is a bonus that can go up to three months of net salary. A 13e, a 14e even a 15e month free of charge for the employee or for the employer, which will make it possible to reward merit. » Claimed objective: to put “end to the scandal of too low wages”, he said, without quantifying the cost of these measures.
The device is reminiscent of the exceptional purchasing power bonus (PEPA), known as « prime Macron », a measure created in 2019 and renewed since. Nearly 4 million employees received this bonus in 2021, with an average payment of 506 euros. “If the Macron bonus without charge or taxes, voted during the Covid, was a good thing, then why limit it to this point? Why limit this premium to [un plafond de] 1,000 euros for most companies? », asked Eric Zemmour.
He also promised to return to the “tax exemption for overtime”, a ” excellent idea “ of Nicolas Sarkozy, suppressed under the presidency of François Hollande.
