[WATCH] A vote for Labour MEPs is a vote for abortion - Adrian Delia

A vote for Labour Party MEPs will bring Malta one step closer to introducing abortion, Adrian Delia said.

The Opposition leader, calling the upcoming European elections a "referendum on abortion", said that voting for PL prospective europarliamentarians would be akin to voting in favour of the Party of European Socialists’ (PES) manifesto in favour of the deliberate early termination of pregnancy.

Delia, who was was addressing party faithful at a PN event in Mellieha on Sunday, promised that Nationalist MEPs would be defending the right to life and would also be fighting against the introduction of a uniform taxation system in the European Union.

“The European Socialists’ manifesto wants to impose abortion, and every vote for candidates of the Maltese Socialist Party in the European elections bring Malta one step closer to introducing abortion,” Delia insisted.

“It will be PN MEP candidates in Europe who defend the right to life against those who want to impose abortion on us, and who will fight against a common tax system which destroys jobs and investment,” he said.

He said that Labour MEPs were committed to voting for Frans Timmermans - the lead PES European Commission presidential candidate - to take the helm of the Commission.

Timmermans, Delia said, had promised to introduce abortion and was also pushing for a common EU tax system which would disrupt investment in Malta and lead to the loss of thousands of jobs.

He went on to quote directly from the PES’ electoral manifesto, which deliniates the groups' plans for "a binding EU gender-equality strategy, through which we will continue the fight to end the pay gaps; against sexual harrassment and gender-based violence, and to ensure that every individul has access to their sexual and reproductive rights".

“This latter part means every woman would herself have the right to terminate someone else’s life,” Delia said, “Timmermans is guaranteeing that, if elected, this will become binding in Europe.”

“A vote for the PN is a pro-life vote,” Delia said, emphasising that the Nationalist Party placed the protection of life from start to finish at the core of its politics, and that PN MEPs were guaranteeing that they would be convincing their own group in the European Parliament - the European People’s Party - that abortion would never be legalised in Malta.

Climate change making migration worse

Turning to climate change, Delia said that this would be affecting everyone, including Malta, and that drastic action needed to be taken.

People, he said, were being displaced from their countries - and migrating to other places, including Malta - due to social problems and injustice, and that climate change was making this problem worse.

“We cannot afford to keep doing nothing. We can’t persist in widening our roads to add thousands of cars a year.”

Ten people were dying prematurely every week because of diseases linked to air pollution, he said. “Twenty will die by the time of the European election.”

Joseph Muscat was trying to fool people through announcements that the government would be planting more trees in the Ta’ Qali national park, he underscored.

“He (Muscat) tries to claim that environment is a priority in Malta, but we all know that it isn’t,” Delia added.

In his closing comments, Delia returned to the issue of the protection of life and the election of Labour MEPs.

“There is a real threat to the protection of life. Maltese Socialists, through their European Socialist friends, want to introduce abortion,” he reiterated.

The people had the responsibility to give an answer to the government, and strip it off its arrogance, he stressed.

“Don’t give up. Have conviction. Persuade others. Together we will make the first step and together we will get there,” the PN leader appealed.