Presuming the weather is decent, thousands of people will flock to Valletta for a protest march against the cost of living which is being organised by the Labour Party.

Let us put it into contest, fuel prices have increased, the cost of living is increasing, gas prices have increased, utility bills are unsustainable for both the general public and businesses – and in the meantime, MPs have received a whopping salary increase.

The Prime Minister has told us not to confuse matters, that the MP increase is one thing while the other problems stem from a different cause. Well, let us point out to the PM that the matters are most definitely intrinsically linked.

What irks most people is not that MPs have been given an increase. What they are angry about is that while (almost) each and every person on the island has had to change their lifestyle to cope with the new demands on taxpayers, the government had the insensitivity to announce the increase at this precise time.

There are arguments and counter arguments about how much MPs should be paid. We believe that the salary increase was not justified, especially when one looks at the actual attendance register for parliament. While it is true they were among the poorest paid in Europe, doubling salaries (the increase alone of which is more than many earn in a month) was way over the top and completely ill-timed.

But back to the protest. It has been a fair while since such a wide cross section of society was so angered by the state of affairs in Malta, in particular the government’s performance. People are sick and fed up of paying through the nose while seeing dramas unfold around them such as the pay rises, the whiffy BWSC deal, the gas and fuel issue, Arms Ltd, bus fares. They are fed up of the arrogance that seems to swathe the government and its departments.

Yet we hope that this protest will be a peaceful one. One where people make their voices heard and strive for change, but not one where violence and name calling takes place. We have seen already the black cloud that hung over Greece, Italy and the UK when protests turned violent. No one wants that. It also has the effect of putting off investors and in an economic climate such as this one, that is not what we need.

The PL has been responsible in its calls for people to attend the “peaceful protest”. But we hope that when the leadership addresses the crowd, it will focus on solutions and proposals, not political rhetoric. We have seen far too many instances of events such as these which turn partisan and ugly. The PL, and most importantly Joseph Muscat, must explain what he and his party can do to improve our lot. He must give credible answers to the very real situation we find ourselves in. We have avoided the brunt of a recession, but by golly are we paying for it. The PL must not tell us that they understand. We know they understand, everyone is in the same boat.

What we need is for the PL to tell us how it is going to retain the current growth rate, while at the same time putting money back into people’s pockets.