Budget 2024 | A social budget… only for some
Apart from the children’s allowance measure, middle-income families have little else to look forward to from the budget. For these families, 2024 will be another year of...
Dear Clyde, don’t forget the middle class
Tomorrow, Caruana will argue that government’s decision to keep subsidising fuel and energy is the biggest reprieve he can give to the middle class... But Caruana must...
A hotbed of conflicts of interest

To date, our national approach to this has always been to ignore the laws and conventions that make such situations unacceptable; in so doing, we have created...

To date, our national approach to this has always been to...

Muscat must end the uncertainty

Muscat had hinted that he believed country leaders should have a fixed term of 10 years and is arguably the first leader to have declared (not once, but...

Muscat had hinted that he believed country leaders should...

The real criminals in the Sea-Watch saga

It is, ironically, Italy’s own defiance of international law that caused the emergency in the first place. The Italian government’s attempts to...

It is, ironically, Italy’s own defiance of...

A brave but delicate proposal

The Education Ministry now wants to move away from having schools in Malta being “exam and test factories”. But its proposed alternatives have not...

The Education Ministry now wants to move away from having...

Crunch time for the PN

As things stand, only two possible outcomes may yet avert the total annihilation of the PN: either Delia emerges reconfirmed by a clear, unequivocal majority...

As things stand, only two possible outcomes may yet avert...

From profits to people

Authorities such as the PA and the Buildings Regulation Office have been starved of resources: making it all but impossible to maintain the sort of monitoring...

Authorities such as the PA and the Buildings Regulation...

The PN has no ‘Plan B’, either

To ‘get rid of Delia’, today, is also to kiss goodbye to a not-insignificant section of the PN’s voter-base: a voter-base that has already...

To ‘get rid of Delia’, today, is also to kiss...

No more business ‘as usual’

Now is also time to demand more restrictions on noise, unlawful pressures to cede rights and more limits on the time during which construction is allowed

Now is also time to demand more restrictions on noise,...

A collapse in health and safety standards

The Labour administration has so far displayed sensitivity to such matters in...

The Labour administration has so far displayed sensitivity...

Gazing into the future

The PN has already been dismembered by wedge issues like gay marriage and adoptions; without a socially liberal orientation it will be condemned to stay as a...

The PN has already been dismembered by wedge issues like...

Detoxifying the PN brand

The fast pace of Labour’s civil society reforms left conservatives gasping for air. In the process, the ‘silent majority’ once believed to...

The fast pace of Labour’s civil society reforms left...

Good intentions are not enough

People want fairness, nothing more, nothing less. They want equity, and demand that the market does not rule every aspect of their life. They want intervention...

People want fairness, nothing more, nothing less. They want...

The PN truly needs a ‘New Way’

It would be futile to deny, however, that the problems facing the PN go far beyond its leadership issues, or even this result in itself

It would be futile to deny, however, that the problems...

Words must be translated into policies

Nonetheless, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s speech, though late in the day, set the right tone for a meaningful debate to take place. But our collective...

Nonetheless, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s speech,...

‘Putting children at risk’

One must also point out that the State – which has a Constitutional obligation to provide free education in Malta – is duty-bound to ascertain that...

One must also point out that the State – which has a...

Overplaying the abortion card

It is perhaps to be expected that the Nationalist Party leader would resort to playing this card. This is, after all, not the first time that the PN has...

It is perhaps to be expected that the Nationalist Party...

Parks are needed where people live

No amount of distant public parks can compensate for the lack of any breathing space from fumes and construction in one's own locality

No amount of distant public parks can compensate for the...

Small parties not making inroads

One must therefore question why the smaller parties are struggling to make inroads. One cannot ignore the structural imbalance against third parties in a...

One must therefore question why the smaller parties are...