“Racist prejudice”, “poison of division”, “diversion” … The left criticizes the words of Bruno Le Maire on the social aid sent to the Maghreb

The left rose up on Tuesday, April 18, against the words of the Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire. “Our compatriots are fed up of fraud” social, said the minister on BFMTV. “They have no desire to see that people can benefit from aid, send them back to the Maghreb or elsewhere, when they are not entitled to it. This is not made for that, the social model”said the minister.

“The social model is made to protect the most modest, against the accidents of life but not to send money illegally abroad”, continued Bruno Le Maire, while a plan to fight against social and tax fraud should soon be presented by the government.

These remarks caused a strong reaction from political leaders on the left. The first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, regretted on Twitter that the government “mobilizes racist prejudices to avoid recalling that social fraud is essentially the fault of employers and that tax evasion is beyond measure”. “Day 1 of 100 days of appeasement: flattering xenophobic prejudices”also tackled the leader of the Socialist deputies Boris Vallaud.

“You are here to create a diversion”

On the side of rebellious France, the patron saint of deputies LFI Mathilde Panot, also denounced the words of Bruno Le Maire. “You will not extinguish social anger by sowing the poison of division. We now know that your moral decay is added to the political vacuum. On May 1, the united people respond to you in the street”, she tweeted. The rebellious MP Thomas Porte recalled that “‘Social fraud’ is estimated at 1 to 2 billion euros per year. On the other hand, tax evasion is between 80 and 100 billion euros per year”inviting Bruno Le Maire to “go see Switzerland”, “rather than talking about the Maghreb and taking up the racist elements of the extreme right”.

The ecologist deputy Aurélien Taché for his part estimated that the French “Above all, they are fed up that people like Bernard Arnault, the richest man in the world, ask for Belgian nationality to stop paying taxes in France”. “They understood that you are there to create a diversion”he tweeted at the address of Bruno Le Maire.