(Adds PL's reaction)

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning accused the Labour Party of turning illegal migration into a political football.

He also accused leader Joseph Muscat of breaching the national consensus there had been on the issue only a few days after the government gave the opposition a presentation on the situation.

Addressing a news conference in St Paul’s Bay, Dr Gonzi asked if it could be a coincidence that barely a few days after this happened Italy changed its position on immigration.

Asked if he was blaming the PL for the stand taken by Italy, the Prime Minister said that he was not drawing that conclusion but stating facts.

“These things do not happen coincidentally in serious matters,” he said.

Although he did not exclude future problems with Italy, Dr Gonzi said the relationship between the two countries remained strong and good.

In its reaction, the PL said it was shameful how the government was trying to hide its failure in the sector by implying that the PL had helped the situation with Italy to deteriorate.

This was an irresponsible allegation, it said, adding that problems had come up because the Prime Minister had been weak and had signed an immigration pact which did not place any burden sharing obligations on other EU countries.

The Prime Minister had confirmed that it did not have a plan on immigration and preferred to have an opposition that was not proactive and work for the people to know what was going on in a sector that was worrying them.

The PL, the party said, would have expected the Prime Minister to give a detailed statement about the latest arrival of immigrants in Gozo.

On the promised electricity-saving bulbs, the Prime Minister said that vouchers were currently being printed and although they might not start being distributed at the end of this month, they would definitely start being given out in mid-June.

He said he did not want people to think that this was an electoral gimmick.