Antonio Tajani and Carlo Calenda dress up as fact-checkers to criticize Elly Schlein. The secretary of the Democratic retreat in Gubbio, speaking to her followers, said: «We must ask ourselves the question of avoiding fueling these conflicts, of avoiding sending weapons and exporting weapons to conflicts, to the conflict in the Middle East, in particular in this case of Israel. Because we cannot risk weapons being used to commit what could be considered war crimes.” It is a shame that Italy will no longer send weapons to Israel from October 7th. “We have already decided not to send any more weapons to Israel and therefore there is no discussion on this point. The decision has been taken, we said it in Parliament”, explained the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani. The leader of Action, Carlo Calenda, adds to the subject: «A reflection: how is it possible that the secretary of the largest Italian opposition party does not know that we are not selling weapons to Israel? Maybe that should be asked.”
But in her brief history as a secretary, Schlein is no stranger to inaccuracies of this kind. 1. MINIMUM WAGE During a special appearance on TV, the secretary said that «in countries like Germany, where the minimum wage was adopted, other salaries also rose». Real? As Pagella Politica explained, citing a 2019 report prepared by economist Arindrajit Dube for the British government, the minimum wage only has an impact on a small portion of workers, those who earn below the minimum wage, although it does not have a significant impact. impact on the rest of the workers. And in fact in Germany, where it was launched in 2015, exactly what the model designed by Dube shows happened.
2. POOR WORKERS During the PD demonstration on November 11th in Rome, the secretary said that: “There are 3 and a half million poor workers in this country”. We’re not here either, we almost aren’t, but we’re not.
According to Istat, in fact, in 2022 there will be around 1.8 million employed people living in absolute poverty (7.7% of people in employment), that is, half of those indicated by the Democratic leader. If, instead, we look at the in-work poverty indicator, they rise to 3 million, 500 thousand less than those indicated by Schlein.
3. RENTAL FUND «The Meloni government canceled 330 million from the rental fund». This is one of Schlein’s strengths, but this statement is also not true. Meloni did not refinance the fund that supported families in difficulty in the 2023 budget law, but it was not canceled. 4. RESOURCES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH According to Schlein “the government cut resources for health”. This is not an inaccuracy, but a real oversight. The 2023 Budget Law actually increased resources for public health by 3 billion in 2024, by another 4 billion in 2025 and by 4.2 billion for 2026. The error arises from the comparison between GDP and expenditure in health. During the pandemic, GDP decreased and health spending therefore had a greater weight. Now that GDP is higher, this weight decreases even though in absolute terms it has increased. 5. Abolition of excise taxes on gasoline Referring to a 2019 video in which Meloni, during the electoral campaign for the European elections, promised the abolition of excise taxes, Schlein attacked the executive, claiming: «They promised to abolish excise taxes in front of gas stations. Have they increased.” Real? No. Not only did the government not increase excise taxes, but this was not even included in the FdI’s electoral program. The last time the value of excise taxes increased was in 2013, during the Letta’s government.
6. TEACHERS’ SALARY “Teachers should be better paid, because we are the country that pays them the least in Europe.” Here we say he missed the mark by a narrow margin. Our teachers are among the lowest paid in Europe, but they do not have the lowest salaries ever. 7. THE FORGOTTEN CARGO In the aftermath of the floods in Emilia Romagna, the secretary stated: «It is a country that has not yet accepted its fragility from a hydrogeological and seismic point of view». There are no lies here, but there is repression. Schlein was a councilor in Emilia Romagna responsible for climate, mountains and internal areas.
8. LIBYA “There is no more funding for the Libyan coast guard, because it violates fundamental human rights.” However, these agreements were promoted in 2017 by the then Minister of the Interior, Minniti, with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni (both from the Democratic Party).
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
