The debate about fuel prices is justified particularly so when we are under the yoke of a state monopoly. It is also justified when the global market for oil has collapsed and its price reduced by 50 to 60 per cent within six months.

The debate, now politicised, is however missing some important points. No one around the globe, and certainly not in Malta, foresaw such a sudden fall in oil prices and, therefore, some hedging arrangements lost out.

Another important point is the fact that the price of fuel in Malta has risen steeply over several years and that most of the price rises are government taxes.

Paraffin used to be dirt cheap and now it’s almost unaffordable. Diesel used to be about a third less in price compared to petrol and now it’s almost the same.

Petrol in Italy was always the most expensive in Europe. The petrol price in Malta used to be a fraction of that in Italy and now it’s only a few cents less.

Is it this two-year-old administration that is responsible for this huge escalation in fuel prices or is it the previous 25-year-old one?

All our political parties are in favour of carrying on with our lavish welfare state, including non-means-tested free medicines, tertiary education with stipends and free tertiary education for students from other EU countries.

Income tax is going down and VAT was only raised to fund Mater Dei Hospital. However, the State needs taxation income to maintain welfare for this ageing population, otherwise we will end up like Greece.

So what do these whingers prefer: levying high taxes on fuels or imposing an annual wealth tax on all property and on land with building permit (as practically all other EU countries have)?