Is Labour in labour?

The country is waiting, waiting for Labour to deliver! Deliver what, you might say. They're not in government. We are waiting for them to deliver on the policy front.

What are Labour's policies? On any subject? Do you know? Are you sure?

On Europe?

The upcoming referendum and election that will follow are giving us something to decide on which will determine our future, and that of our kids and grandchildren for many years to come.

The Nationalists want membership. They are working hard to get us a good deal and have a vision of Malta and Gozo as members of the EU.

What do Labour want? First Switzerland in the Mediterranean (now abandoned!) and then partnership. What sort of nonsense is this? Partners? Of what? With what framework to define it? Friends with Europe? Of course we are, and will remain, but the PN is proposing something tangible, something which exists. It is an aspiration to a lifestyle, to a standard of behaviour that we all see working when we go away on our travels.

On the environment?

The waffle that comes out of the Labour camp has to be heard to be believed. No policy at all. Just waffle and spin. Just destructive criticism. Just a concerted effort to tap into the negativism that besets the Maltese pysche.

On democracy?

No policies again but their media and their utterances over the last four years have given us all ample proof, if proof is still needed, that tolerance is not the name of the game.

Labour will get rid of a good-at-his-job chairman. Labour will continue their ridiculous boycott of the company which produce the most popular programmes in Malta.

On financial matters?

Labour are trying to cash in on the current discontent because more of us are paying more tax, and yes, ouch, it hurts, especially for the very average people who are earning around Lm8,000-Lm12,000 per year (often with both parents working) and sending their kids to private schools, paying for their healthcare, having their fringe benefits taxed etc.

What do Labour say. No more taxes, but we will cut down on waste! Come on. This is what they said in 1996 and look what happened!

We all tend to forget that Labour were in government. We all tend to forget that immense feeling of relief in 1998 when Laour were replaced.

On health?

Every possible negative aspect that can be attributed to the hospital is gone for with gusto. Did you prefer the healthcare sytem under Labour?

On education?

While the Labour media relentlessly attack anyone whom they view as English speaking and therefore elitist, Evarist Bartolo moans about the decline of English.

Yet the decline of English is Labour's gift to Malta. When I left these islands for 15 years in 1982, the standard of English was better than now.

We have a whole generation of teachers of English whose English is just not good enough and no amount of overburdened Matsec syllabus is going to remedy the crisis.

We are allowing our unique selling point to disappear, and Labour are conveniently ignoring how they contributed to this sad farce. Any policy to remdy this? No, too busy penning nasty articles against anyone Nationalist and capable.

On housing?

One of Labour's raison d'etre this one. No comment so far on all the policy improvements in the last years which have led to better designed government housing stock, huge investment in repairing older dwellings, a care and repair service for the most vulnerable, lifts in government blocks, partnerships and support for our fantastic volunatary sector in Malta.

No comment, no policy from Labour on housing except to boycott all this news on their media.

And so this country continues to sit in a waiting room, waiting for Labour to come out of its labour and deliver some policies, as well as plans on how they're going to fund and actuate them.

How can a party which represents half the electorate be so silent? And most worrying of all, how can half the electorate accept this silence, this vaccum?

The silence is deafening.