The government will reduce the VAT on gas from the current 21% to 5% from October. This was announced by Pedro Sánchez in an interview on Cadena SER, in which he assured that this is a “reasonable” measure considering that winter is coming and that it will be in force until December 31, although he already expected that it could. Subsequently, due to the evolution of the situation due to the war in Ukraine.
“We are in a context of high uncertainty caused by war, but we cannot descend into catastrophe without entering into euphoria,” said the president, who assured that the government would continue to take measures “to protect the middle and working class.” which he considers “vulnerable” due to Vladimir Putin’s attack. The socialist insisted that Spain’s economic data is good, pointing to tourism, fiscal consolidation and job creation: “It is the duty of politics to convey certainty, it is not to gild the pill, but not to enter a catastrophic path.” .
The president’s decision to reset the rate coincides with tax-cutting measures the government has taken to reduce electricity bills and used the opportunity to protect the Iberian exemption that allowed the European Union to impose a cap. The price of gas used to generate electricity in Spain and Portugal. Thus, he ensured that without this mechanism, the price of electricity would be more excessive, as it is in other European countries.
“Feiyo is obedient to the interests that put him at the head of the PP”
Sánchez excoriated the PP for its “rejecting opposition”: “Mr Feijo is quite amenable to the interests that put him at the helm of the PP.” One of the interests that the socialist believes that the former president was “hands on” was related to energy companies. “In this legislature, with Casado and Feijo, neither with the pandemic nor now with the war, I have not had any help,” said Sánchez, who assured that his phone “is open to all political leaders.”
One aspect of the PP opposition that worries Sánchez the most is the use of terrorism, now with the approach of ETA members Txapote and Henri Parot, to Euskadi prisons. Sanchez assured that he “doesn’t remember anything that they intend to serve” and that what the government is doing is “consistent with prison policy.” “When the PP was in power, it brought hundreds of ETA prisoners to Euskadi, and ETA killed and kidnapped people. What we have seen, unfortunately, all these years, is the false and shameless use of the anti-terrorist policy by the PP”, recalled the president, who was convinced that what the PSOE did in opposition was “forging big agreements”. ETA or the fight against jihadist terrorism.
Sanchez says there will be more military spending: “There will be an agreement”
The president once again defended the coalition’s actions, although he distanced himself from his second vice president, Yolanda Diaz, on one of the issues that currently separates them most amid budget negotiations: military spending. Sánchez has promised to increase defense allocations, contrary to what the leader of the United We Can government proposed the previous day. “Ultimately, like everything, it will be a dialogue, a negotiation, and there will be an agreement,” said Sanchez, who took it for granted that public accounts with the executive branch’s usual partners would continue regardless. that the Allies had shown themselves opposed to the intention of increasing military expenditure.
“The context of the war brings into the equation the need for nuclear deterrence under Putin’s presidency in Europe. Deterrence is very important,” defended Sánchez, who, in addition to pointing to Ukraine’s war as one of the reasons for the increase in defense spending, tried to justify it with socio-economic variables in the national context. “The salaries of soldiers and sailors have not been updated since 2005. We have increased them in 2021. 207 million that we put together in 2022,” Sánchez said, referring to the salaries of the military: 100,000 qualified jobs spread throughout Spain.” . Thus, he admitted that it is not recognized in Madrid, but he pointed to areas such as Albacete, Ferrol, Euskadi, Cartagena or Cadiz, where “the defense industry is very important. “We are not only talking about restraint and fulfilling our obligations, but we are also talking about the economy, companies, jobs and territorial unity. We are talking about cyber security,” he explained.
Source: El Diario
