Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said he will never accept the removal of crucifixes from public spaces.

“The crucifix is not just a religious symbol; it is a symbol of tradition, and therefore is not there just for Christians,” Dr Busuttil said during an interfaith conference organised by the Nationalist Party equal opportunities forum this morning.

Closing the conference, which saw interventions from representatives of different religions and beliefs, Dr Busuttil said the PN had never been an “exclusive club for Christians” but an open party that supported tolerance and liberty.

“We are informed by Christian beliefs, but society has changed and if we don’t recognise that change, we are failing in our goal of representing all of Maltese society.”

He said the Christian values the party held dear – equality, tolerance, and the protection of human dignity – had in fact transcended Christianity and were accessible to anyone, irrespective of their beliefs.

“Religio et patria is part of our tradition but it is not in any statute,” he said. “Today, when we say religio et patria we have to ask: which religion? And to be inclusive, it has to refer to more than one religion.”

The Opposition leader appeared keen, however, to deflect attention from ongoing questions on the proposed removal of vilification laws, the introduction of embryo freezing and the banning of the niqab.

“The real issue we should be discussing is corruption, which shows the true lack of values of a government whose only credo is opinion polls,” he said.

Also speaking during the conference, Imam Mohammed El Sadi said the party had a “moral duty” to counter populist fearmongering with the truth.

“Islam is constantly under attack in popular discourse, which is not helping integration,” he said.

Condemning the actions of groups such as the so-called Islamic State, which he said were not reflections of Islam, he joked: “If ISIS were to come to Malta, I would be the first person they’d kill.”