Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said this evening that Joseph Muscat spoke for two hours in parliament about the Budget, but criticised nothing and gave no proposals, forgetting even the 51 "supposed" proposals he had made last year.

Asked whether he was willing to discuss removing income tax for minimum wage earners, as Dr Muscat had promised, Mr Fenech said Dr Muscat had not said how this could be done.

Mr Fenech said the government had to make choices and those raising children were the priority. Describing the issue as a "storm in a teacup", he said the government would rather focus its energy on giving a weekly €25 allowance for those who accepted training.

Mr Fenech also criticised Labour for not saying how it would reduce energy tariffs, pointing out that the government had just presented a Budget full of proposals that even Dr Muscat wanted to implement.

Mr Fenech also criticised Dr Muscat for wanting the government to "pave the way" for him with regard to the 2017 EU presidency, saying Dr Muscat was only interested in his own ambitions.