Labour deputy leader Toni Abela has dismissed criticism that he represents a throwback to old Labour.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Dr Abela says: "The media sometimes spins the characteristics of a person in a negative manner. Those who know me closely know I'm not the Toni Abela they project me to be."

Dr Abela says critics forget that in 1989 he was expelled from the Labour Party because he was hammering on the need for the same radical reforms the party was currently undergoing.

He defends Joseph Muscat's decision to eliminate the post of general secretary, saying the party was streamlining posts to make it more effective.

The 52-year-old lawyer says it is important for the party to reach out to all sectors of society, including employers, adding that there was nothing wrong for Labour to shift towards the centre, even to the right, to rally support.

He says the party grassroots have now adjusted themselves to the fact that Malta is an EU member.

A former vociferous critic of EU membership, Dr Abela says he would now be the first to argue against anybody proposing that Malta withdraws from the European bloc.

Despite being a co-founder of Alternattiva Demokratika, Dr Abela also dismisses suggestions that the Labour Party and the Green Party should merge into one political bloc and insists he has no parliamentary ambitions.

Read the entire interview in today's edition of The Sunday Times. Watch excerpts of the interview on video above.