Only three days after The Times argued editorially that fiscal consolidation ought to remain a priority goal, the Finance Minister came out with the government’s pre-Budget document emphasising the same point. Of course, it takes no Einstein to underline the absolutely important necessity for the country to put its financial house in order but, at the same time, it is well to continue stressing this publicly in the light of claims, which, though they may appear to be well justified in today’s circumstances, would be foolish to implement before the situation is brought well under control.

Such caution ought to apply with greater force today when the eurozone is in the grip of so much market turmoil over the serious debt problems faced by a number of EU member countries and, now, over the new pressures facing Italy and Spain. When even the United States is being called upon to live within its means, the message for prudence ought not to be taken lightly and it would be sheer irresponsibility on the part of politicians to look the other way and plead for tax cuts, for instance, just because some local economic indicators are showing positive trends.

Labour is likely to be tempted to do precisely this when Parliament starts debating the Budget. The argument runs that, once the government had promised tax cuts just before the last election, it should honour the promise. The counter argument, of course, is that the situation has changed drastically since then and that it would, therefore, be altogether unwise to rush into cutting tax before the worst is over. There is much that the Nationalist Administration can be criticised about but there ought to be no disagreement over the need for the country to put its financial house in order. This is of great national interest and no political party ought to raise unnecessary expectations to win votes. The Finance Minister, Tonio Fenech, was correct when he said: “We have to design the Budget on the principle of sustainability. If not, the chickens will come home to roost. We need to keep our feet on the ground in the context of the reality around us. Faced with positive indicators, it is easy to think that the storm has passed and that the government can now be open handed in its benevolence”. Well said.

This is exactly the message the government ought to keep emphasising and the Labour Party should take it on board too. If it does not agree with the way the government is going about exercising its financial discipline, it should put forth its own proposals. In doing this, it will stand to win votes rather than losing support, that is, if the proposals are sound. Again, this is a matter of purely national interest; there will be enough time before the election to score points.

Labour has not understood this well enough yet. The sooner it does, the better it will be for its own sake and for the country.

Unfortunately, the pre-Budget document is not exactly written in a way that can easily be understood by all. It is leaner than previous ones but what counts most is the sense of direction it gives and that is right. Hopefully, the government will stand by what the Finance Minister has put down in writing and will not be tempted to do things that can derail the fiscal consolidation programme.