François Ruffin, La France insoumise (LFI) deputy for the Somme, was the guest of the 8:30 a.m. franceinfoWednesday, February 8, 2023. Record profits from TotalEnergies, pension reform, parliamentary debates, intervention by Adrien Quatennens… He answered questions from Marc Fauvelle and Salhia Brakhlia.
Benefits of Total: “We are witnessing the force-feeding of some and the rationing of others”
“We are witnessing the force-feeding of some and the rationing of others”denounces the deputy LFI, while TotalEnergies unveiled record profits of 19.5 billion euros. “Most of its profits are redistributed as dividends”regrets the LFI deputy and “these dividends go to the top 0.1%”, according to him. The elected official accuses the oil group of “to invest its dividends in the Netherlands to avoid capital gains tax. and points to the responsibility of the State.
“At the top of the state, we have a complicity in the predation of the nation”he believes. “I think there is a great complicity with tax evasion, that yes, we close our eyes, develops the deputy Insoumis, and we do not put the means to get the money where it is”. “We should have an economic police to protect the French”explains the elected Picard. “It’s as if we had placed Al Capone at the head of the police. Bercy washes his hands of it”he continues. “We work, we pay our taxes and it’s hard to live on it. And meanwhile, there are the big guys up there who escape it and who benefit from complicity”asserts François Ruffin.
Pensions: “This law must not pass”
“This law must not pass because the country wants this law not to pass”, assures the deputy journalist. After three days of mobilization and another scheduled for Saturday, François Ruffin believes that “It’s up to the workers to decide” whether the social movement should harden or not. “I think that if we don’t want to put our country under tension, if on the contrary we want to repair it, heal it, re-weld it […]then we must not do” this reform, he warns. “On pensions, it is to bail out the deficit”he assures before identifying avenues of financing such as “raising employer contributions” suggested by François Bayrou, rather than raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64. “A very dogmatic choice by Mr Macron”decides the deputy LFI.
Amendments: “There is an opposition, it opposes” and must remain “master of the calendar”
“There is an opposition, it opposes. We must do everything so that this law does not pass”, insists François Ruffin. The LFI group tabled nearly 13,000 amendments, casting doubt on the fact of being able to go as far as the debates devoted to article 7 devoted to the postponement of the legal retirement age to 64, especially since the exchanges at the National Assembly must end on February 17 at midnight. “I would like us to study article 7”answers François Ruffin. “At some point, amendments will come in large packages so that we are masters of the calendar”, assures François Ruffin. The elected official from the Somme criticizes the government for restricting the time for debate on pension reform. “Why do we only have 8 days to debate?”he asks himself.
36-hour week in four days: “A gadget”, “not a Frenchman believes in it”
On a voluntary basis, agents of the Union for the collection of social security contributions and family allowances (Urssaf) in Picardy have the possibility of opting for a 36-hour week over four days, as part of an experiment. According to the elected representative of the Somme, this measure is a “gadget”. “It makes a little foam in the media. There is not a Frenchman today who believes in it”tackle François Ruffin.
Quatennens at the Assembly: “It is likely to divide us”
“It’s not the right time”, assures François Ruffin, the day after Adrien Quatennens spoke in the National Assembly to defend an amendment on pension reform. It was his first intervention after his conviction for domestic violence. This caused a bronca in the hemicycle. “I am for giving ourselves time, for the dust to settle, for people to calm down”underlined the deputy LFI. “I was against a forced resignation at the start, I am against a forced return”he adds. “I think a sabbatical year, the time to digest the events, would have done everyone good”, explains the deputy. The Picard elected official regrets that the return of Adrien Quatennens, who still sits among the non-registered, is made “at that time in our social history”. François Ruffin understands that this return creates a “twist point”and fears that it is “nature to divide at a time when we all need to be united”.
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Find the entire “8:30 am franceinfo” of Wednesday February 8, 2023: