Paris (AFP)

LFI deputy François Ruffin on Thursday accused successive governments of having "betrayed" and of being "accomplices" to multinationals such as the Japanese tire group Bridgestone, which announced the upcoming closure of its Béthune plant (Pas-de- Calais).

"It's been thirty years that it lasts, that we hear the same whiners," added Mr. Ruffin on BFMTV and RMC, referring to the outrageous reactions of the government to this announcement still qualified as "revolting" Thursday by the minister of the 'Economy Bruno Le Maire.

"I consider that the traitors, the cynics, the liars, it is the government. It is the former ministers, the ministers who have these words (...) these people are the accomplices of the multinationals", he stressed.

"We know very well that these multinationals are wild animals. If they have the possibility of seeking a labor cost which is lower in Poland (...) or in China, they will do so. So now, faced with beasts, there are two solutions: it is not to lecture, we do not lecture a beast. On the other hand, we put him in a cage, that is to say we are protected ", he insisted, citing as measures "import quotas, border taxes, customs barriers and kilometer taxes".

Bridgestone's announcement on Wednesday to close its Béthune plant employing 863 people by 2021 continued Thursday to elicit many political reactions, including that of the national secretary of the PCF and native of Béthune Fabien Roussel.

"They touched thousands of euros of public money", moved the deputy of the North on France 2, estimating that it would take "200 million euros" to prevent the closure of the site.

"The State can say within the framework of the recovery plan + we will accompany you and we will put together these 200 million euros" he added.

France Insoumise also judges that "the State must demand the repayment of public aid" to Bridgestone.

On the right, Valérie Pécresse, the ex-LR president of the Ile-de-France region, also demanded on Thursday that we go "to recover the subsidies" granted to "companies which are really rogue companies".

"The state must attack them and we have to have very strong retaliatory measures. Companies also have a moral duty in this crisis and we cannot plunge thousands of people into distress without really making the effort. to reindustrialize the area, "she told franceinfo.

© 2020 AFP