Budget, Salvini: ‘We need a budget deviation of at least 20 billion; construction sites are at risk’

The Minister for Infrastructure and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has reiterated this ahead of the budget. Work is already underway and, as regards the budget, “in my view, a budget deviation should also be put on the table. I intend to propose this in the coming days. We don’t need Brussels’ approval” but “a national decision”. The Deputy Prime Minister, who will be attending the Rimini Meeting today, made these remarks in an interview with ilSussidiario.net. “Everyone is rightly talking about the cost of fuel, but as Minister for Infrastructure I have to deal with increases in the price of materials running into billions of euros.” We need “at least 20 billion. I myself, for the ministry, would need at least 6 or 7 billion just to offset the price rises’ on the ‘contracts I have awarded. In September, I risk several major construction sites coming to a standstill’.

On the energy crisis, the minister at Porta Pia agrees with opposition leader Elly Schlein’s position that companies’ windfall profits should be taxed. “I agree. Banks, insurance companies, energy firms and oil companies are making profits. Let me be clear: I’m not in favour of proletarian expropriation, but at a time like this we need to ask those who can afford it to make a contribution.”

On the Messina Bridge, the Deputy Prime Minister then outlined the next steps: “The most important step is the opinion of the Court of Auditors. I am confident. Last year, the Court put a stop to us, asking us to do a great many more things, and this year we’ve done our homework, including maintaining constant dialogue – even during these August days – with the European institutions, who have told us to press ahead. I expect that by autumn we’ll be able to get the construction sites up and running.” As for the technical requirements accompanying the favourable opinion of the Higher Council of Public Works, Salvini played them down: “This is normal for major infrastructure projects. It happened with the TAV, the MOSE and the Brenner Tunnel. The CSLP, unanimously, with the best of Italian engineering and university lecturers, said: the project is sound, go ahead. When projects are complex, engineers and technicians get involved during the detailed design phase. These are the ‘specifications’ you mentioned. It’s standard practice.”

Turning then to the heated political front, Salvini has defined the boundaries of the electoral contest by ruling out an alliance with Vannacci. “I’m not one of those who says: let’s bring everyone on board, from Calenda to Vannacci, just to pick up one more vote. You can’t attack the government every day over immigration, Europe, taxes, even the Housing Plan, and then ask for a place in the centre-right. I remain firm in my ‘no’. Voters reward consistency,” he said. The Deputy Prime Minister shares the view that an alliance with Vannacci would result in the centre-right securing fewer votes than it would without him: “Every day he attacks the government, yet in the Reggio Calabria by-election he’ll field a candidate who, until the day before yesterday, was the group leader of Forza Italia,” he pointed out. “And it’s a script that keeps repeating itself. If you present yourself as something new but only attract defectors from other parties, where is the novelty? Then, when my measures are on the table, Vannacci’s supporters always vote with the Left.” Turning then to the crisis the League is currently facing, the secretary added: “‘The advice I give to everyone, both inside and outside the League,’ he continued, ‘is to work as hard as possible and, if there are problems, to discuss them amongst ourselves, because airing them in public only helps Schlein and Conte. We hold dozens of party meetings. Some people criticise me for listening to everyone and for doing so too much.’