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Speaker Anġlu Farrugia has introduced a dress code in parliament after complaints about Democratic Party MP Godfey Farrugia who turned up in a polo shirt for last Tueday's sitting.

Dr Farrugia said in a ruling that following complaints from the public, he was introducing a basic dress code for Members of Parliament, in order to protect "the dignity of Parliament and MPs."

He said that MPs will henceforth be required to wear a jacket, although not necessarily a tie, in the Chamber. Women have to observe a similar standard of dress.

In delivering his ruling, Dr Farrugia quoted Erskine May, the parliamentary rule book of the House of Commons, which, although it does not mandate a specific dress code, requires parliamentarians to dress appropriately.

In a Facebook post before the ruling, Dr Farrugia said it was honesty which made a man, not his jacket and those who wore T-shirts were not inferior. He said he was proud to be a worker and son of a worker.