Dagmar Schmidt, the deputy chair of the SPD parliamentary group, rejected the CSU leader Markus Söder’s proposed budget cuts. Speaking to the online news portal T‑Online, she said “We Social Democrats will not accept this”. Söder had called for reductions in youth and integration services in an article for “Stern”, dismissing the aid as “excessive social benefits”.
Schmidt expressed astonishment that “the Union, when things get a bit tougher, immediately wants to cut the benefits of those who are already in a difficult situation”. She singled out people with disabilities and children and adolescents who “are not being raised on the sunny side of life”.
Looking at the SPD’s recent election performance, Schmidt noted that the party is struggling. “Times are difficult for social democracy; the zeitgeist is slightly against us” she said. “Much of what defines us is not in demand these days”.
She further explained that the party’s effort to offer clear, steady policy faces obstacles. “For us, as the SPD, it is incredibly hard to push through a policy that provides direction in the face of heightened emotional rhetoric, enemy‑images, and scapegoats” she said. This challenge stems partly from how media now operates and also from coalition dynamics, both within the current “Ampel” (SPD, Greens, FDP) and with the Union. “Even now with the Union it’s difficult to govern” Schmidt added. “The Union no longer follows a centrist course like it did under Angela Merkel”.
