“Resentment”?

When asked whether the Labour Party is the same party it was in the past, I would reply with a PAINFUL and emphatic “yes.”

What concerns me is not the increase to MPs, which was long overdue, (or ministers’ increase in salary, for that matter) but why on earth did someone sanction the ministerial increase two years ago and not the rest.

I find it incredible that this went on for two years and nobody raised the issue. None of this crap would have hit the fan if everybody got their money on time.

A public relations disaster it may have been, but I still hang on to my view that as soon as one single Labour MP accepts the increase, Joseph Muscat’s argument falls flat on its face.

Most of his MPs would love to get their hands on that increase but he went ahead and put unbelievable pressure on them not to accept.

The man is a twat and in their own little circles his own MPs hate his guts.

[Daphne – And thank God for that.]

The prime minister insinuated that it is the former when he replied to Muscat’s questions in parliament, and I can’t agree more.

It is clear that he was waiting for the right ‘public mood’ and with a little help from a friend (Leo), let loose. Politicians shaping the views of people, and how!

We were asked to observe the approaching thunderstorm on the horizon. It was the year that Iceland went broke and powerhouses like Germany and France were feeling the pinch.

May I also remind you that it was also the year when a hefty surcharge was imposed on utilities. While I am not envious of the fact that MPs should be adequately compensated for their responsibilities, the burden should be shouldered by all and sundry not simply us common folk.

Truth is that this is going to loose us the next general election. I agree that consultants are losing money when they become ministers, but at a time when Air Malta workers have had their pay frozen for years and cannot get a decent raise to meet the expenses of the free economy, which is becoming worse by the day, unlike DCG.

[Daphne – ‘DCG’ did not go off and find a job with a parastatal company for security of tenure and a reliable pay-cheque. DCG is self-employed and works in the highly volatile private sector, where you have to run to keep up and nobody guarantees that there’ll be any money at the end of the month to pay those bills. I find it incredible that Air Malta employees expect a pay rise when the airline is so heavily over-staffed and redundancies have to be made but will not be made for political reasons. Do you realise that the airline is technically bankrupt and should have gone the way of so many others had it not been kept alive by artificial means? And then you want a raise?]

The Government is telling the workers that there wont be pensions for them in the future and that they have to make sacrifices, while at the same time hiding the salary/honoraria raise for the MPs, together with builting an unnecessary Parliament House destroying the only square in Valletta, and wasting money on building a roofless theatre instead of a public project for the general public like a one stop shop for all government business, this is truly madness. The PM is out of touch with reality.

[Daphne – No, actually I think you are. You work for an airline that has been haemmorhaging millions and not only do you take it for granted that you will never be made redundant (heaven forfend! you work for a parastatal) but you also want a raise by right. You don’t even seem to know that the airline you work for would have folded if it had not been saved by a whisker by the European Commission granting a special exemption to allow the state to bankroll it to the tune of a further 50 million euros of taxpayers’ money so that it doesn’t have to sack you and shut down the airline and leave us all stranded and dependent on Ryanair.]

I’m sorry for him he’s truly a nice guy but alas, he is resting on his close tight advisors who dont give a damn whether they will be in government next time round. We care that the PN will be given the mandate to govern once more. There is no credibility in the Labour party. They done even have one good damn policy on anything. And they will be in government by default because of all the autogoals the Government is committing. A shame. But that means that the PN needs 10 years in opposition to get it’s house in order. The first one to fall will be the PN Gen Sec who is just a hopeless case.

Let’s stay focused on the real issues: low unemployment and economic growth. As long as the country has both, it can afford to pay its ministers, MPs and everyone else better salaries and wages.

You don’t hear Labour make so much noise on those matters, do you?