Labour leader Joseph Muscat this morning insisted that although finance minister Tonio Fenech had said the Virgin Mary was crying over the divorce issue ,it was actually families who are crying over their water and electricity bills.

Speaking at a GWU activity about the family and politics, Dr Muscat made reference to an article published on Wednesday in the Malta Independent where Mr Fenech said "I am sure Our Lady is very sorrowful that Malta is considering divorce."

Dr Muscat said he would leave people free to gauge the distinction the Minister was making between a secular and a confessional state.

He added that the government had wrong priorities.

Although not enough, the €14 million granted to families to subsidise water and electricity bills last year was better than nothing.

The government had however stopped these grants.

The government should financially help Maltese families, just as it had managed to financially fund the building of Parliament at City Gate, Dr Muscat said.

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