A number of the social partners have expressed their con-cern at the prospect of the Budget not being approved in Parliament.

They appealed to MPs to approve the Budget so as to avoid the possibility of starting the year without one.

This appeal should have been addressed to Government MPs, not to the Opposition, since no one expects the opposition anywhere to vote in favour of the government’s Budget.

I expected the same social partners to state that they took note of Joseph Muscat’s declaration that if the Budget is not approved a future Labour government would implement all the positive measures included in it so as to put everybody’s mind at rest and avoid instability.

I also expect them to appeal to the Prime Minister that in the event of the Budget being shot down by Franco Debono – as he has publicly stated he would do – an election date will be announced in the shortest time possible, thus avoiding more instability.