The 2021 General State Budget project is being processed in the Congress of Deputies. A broad majority of the House rejected the amendments to the entirety presented by the far right, the extreme right and the ultraconservative Canarian Coalition, among others, so the process that will lead us to have public accounts with the highest social spending in history continues. A progressive budget to combat the effects of the crisis caused by COVID-19, the social and economic reconstruction of our country and the transformation of its productive model.
Let's talk about the budgets and restoring hope to the citizens, because if we let ourselves be carried away by the strident distraction maneuvers of the far right and the extreme right, we could come to believe that we are still anchored in the past, that our democracy did not defeat separatist terrorism and that the decision of the band to lay down their arms and surrender while José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was president of the Government was a bad dream. From the ultra right we can only expect attempts to break the confidence of Spaniards in democratic institutions, but what the PP is doing has no name. And I say the same about my own when they stir up the bogeyman fable.
It is clear. The PP does not want to debate the new General State Budgets, the most important instrument of the Government's economic policy in which the strategic objectives of the different public policies are reflected. The PP does not want to talk about this essential document for the reconstruction of the country and designed for economic growth, job creation and social cohesion. And all because the PP does not want the situation in the country to improve, since its only plan is to do the impossible to make the climate of coexistence worse to see if the Government falls. A petty plan.
As far as I know, democracy defeated terrorism and democracy is strengthened when those who are on the sidelines accept and assume its rules of the game. So, having clarified this point, what interests the majority of the population is that we are going to put an end to the path of suffering imposed by the PP a few years ago. To begin with, we are going to say goodbye to austerity with the revaluation of pensions by 0.9% and the increase of 1.8% in non-contributory benefits, which will benefit more than ten million people.
We will say goodbye to the impoverishing policies of the PP by increasing the items allocated to social services and social protection. At the same time, we will look to the future by increasing the items for SMEs, commerce and tourism by more than 1,300 million euros; through unprecedented health financing; approving the largest scholarship item in history; or fighting against severe poverty through the consolidation of the Minimum Basic Income. With the endorsement of the European Union, our country is moving towards reducing inequality through specific tax modifications prior to an in-depth tax reform, with strong allocations in employment and housing, and great support for research, digitization and strategic industry.
What worries the PP is not Spain or the well-being of Spaniards. What worries them is that the approval of the 2021 General State Budgets means that the legislature is going to reach the end; hence their overreaction. The fact is that while Ciudadanos seems to be looking to relocate to more central positions, the consequences of Trump's defeat catch the PP in the same unit of destiny in the universal as the ultra right and, if they are not careful, they will end up condemned to irrelevance. They are still in time to rectify.
Fco. Manuel Fajardo Palarea, PSOE senator for Lanzarote and La Graciosa.