The Finance Minister's football trip on a private jet with two businessmen has columnists and political observers divided on whether it is a matter for resignation, even if they agree that, with hindsight, he should never have gone.

Former Labour minister and columnist Lino Spiteri writes off the affair as a "storm in a tea cup".

"I am sure that on second thoughts Tonio Fenech would have watched the game in another manner. But what is going on is little more than a storm in a tea cup. There are bigger issues to tackle relating to business and politics," he said.

Mr Spiteri is a director of Tumas Investments plc along with George Fenech, the businessman on whose private jet Tonio Fenech flew to watch the Arsenal game.

For former Nationalist Party candidate and political observer Georg Sapiano, the whole affair creates tension between a situation in which a finance minister is asking people to tighten their belt and another situation where the same minister is jetting off to see football games with businessmen.

"From that point of view, with hindsight, I think we all agree that skipping the trip would have been a better idea," he said.

However, Dr Sapiano insisted it was not appropriate to infer that because a member of government has travelled with businessmen he is necessarily in their pocket.

"Neither does it mean that Tonio Fenech is not spending every hour of his day to manage our economy in these times of crisis," Dr Sapiano said.

Although the decision to go and watch the game was not his most inspired one, he added, it should not be the sole yardstick by which the man was now to be judged.

Political observer Godfrey Grima disagreed, insisting the minister's decision to fly with two businessmen was "hugely indiscreet".

Describing the trip as a "serious mistake", Mr Grima said it was "ill-timed and with the wrong company".

"The only reason he was invited is because he is a minister. It shows there is no accountability in this country with ministers displaying a sense of arrogance and lack of respect towards public opinion," he said.

Mr Grima also took the Prime Minister to task for approving Mr Fenech's flight plans, insisting he was a "fool" to get embroiled in this way.

"I do not know whether it is a resigning matter because people do make mistakes but this is an issue the Prime Minister has to deal with," he said.

If Mr Fenech's resignation is a question mark in Mr Grima's mind, not the same can be said of columnist Claire Bonello.

She said the minister's behaviour was "clearly inappropriate" and he should resign.

The value of the freebie had nothing to do with the issue at stake, she added, insisting that what mattered most was the minister's acceptance of the gift from big business.

"What is worse is that the Prime Minister completely ignored the implications of what the Minister was going to do and approved the trip," she said.

Dr Bonello insisted it was unfair of the Prime Minister to charge the opposition with mudslinging because the whole issue revolved around his minster's breach of the code of ethics.

"Mr Fenech should resign or be made to resign if the Prime Minister wants to hold the moral high ground. He should not just go on and defend those close to him," she said.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued yesterday, Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola described the whole incident as a serious lack of understanding of ethical behaviour by Nationalist ministers.

He also criticised the Prime Minister for giving his blessing to Mr Fenech's free trip.

"Any serious European Prime Minster would set and expect high standards of conduct from his ministers. Prime Minister Gonzi clearly does not give any importance to this very important matter," Prof. Cassola said.

The Minister admitted to going on a free trip aboard leading businessman George Fenech's private jet to watch Arsenal play in Spain.

Accompanying the two was businessman Joe Gasan who obtained the match tickets for free through Ford's sponsorship of the Champions League.

Mr Fenech told The Times on Monday he paid for his accommodation.

The Minister and the Prime Minister refused to make a ministerial statement in Parliament on Monday evening.

Mr Fenech has insisted he has a clear conscience and changes to the gaming law in the pipeline were never intended to advantage George Fenech, who owns two casinos and is in the running for the management bid of Dragonara Casino.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party Parliamentary Group condemned anonymous letters aimed at influencing policy-makers and decision-making.

The group said anonymous letters were a low condemnable weapon and it assured everyone that none of its members would be influenced by such letters.