The government should clearly state what its strategies for Air Malta, low cost airlines and tourism were as any steps taken at Air Malta could not be taken independently from the country's tourism strategy, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said this morning.

Speaking on One Radio this morning in a telephone link from London, Dr Muscat said the government knew what the situation at Air Malta was before the election but it hid it and deceived the workers.

A situation such as that at Air Malta was the result of years of incompetence.

And although the workers had not been accomplices in bringing the airline to its current situation, they were the ones being made to suffer.

The decisions which matter, Dr Muscat said, had been taken by the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.

He asked why was the Air Malta restructuring committee meeting since it had been pushed aside by the government.

The government, he said, had also brought consultants to draw up a report which had cost €2 million and which was saying a lot of things which did not require deep investigation.

It also came with a disclaimer that it would be ineffective unless the government stopped subsidising low cost airlines.

Dr Muscat also spoke on the rising cost of living and said that water and electricity rates were this year increased by another €14 million.

This was because the energy benefit that had been given last year was not given again this year.

The cost of oil was now cheaper than it was before the election but the electricity bills were higher.

In spite of all the government was saying, the people do not know in what way and what system was used by Enemalta to buy the country’s oil products.

There was a lack of transparency in the system and no cheques and balances could be made about hedging claims for next year.

Dr Muscat said that had Malta opted for a clean technology, it would not have been affected by the situation or it would have been affected to a much smaller degree.

On Malta's contribution to the Greece bailout, Dr Muscat said the opposition supported the government's decision to again help Greece, another Eurozone country.

Malta, he said, had to help Greece because if it defaulted, Malta would also be badly affected.

However, it was also up to the government to request European help in other matters, such as migration, where it was being left on its own.

All this was because 24 out of the 27 countries in Europe were led by right wing governments, that were bringing their peoples' with their backs to the wall.