Government MP Luciano Busuttil said in parliament this evening that Rapid Intervention Unit vehicles should be equipped with CCTV cameras so that incidents can be entirely captured on film.

He was speaking during the parliamentary debate on a law granting trade union membership to disciplined forces in parliament, which was passed after both sides of the House voted in favour of the motion this evening. Although having the right to join a union, such members will not have a right to strike.

Dr Busuttil was referring to a recent incident which occurred in Sliema over the weekend after police stopped an individual for reckless driving which led to conflicting versions from both the sides involved. While the police issued a statement saying that the driver of the car who was arrested bit a policeman, accompanied with an image of the police's shirt covered in blood stains, the driver of the vehicle alleged that a policeman elbowed him in the nose while in the police vehicle. It is understood the accused was drunk at the time of the incident.

This is the second allegation made towards police in a matter of a few months. A Briton had alleged that he was a victim of a beating while in the custody of the police.

Dr Busuttil also recalled an incident, when his front door was burnt down and a police woman who was in civilian clothes on patrol due to drug problems in the area, was the first person to help out.

He said it is vital such persons have a union to intervene at times when their conditions of work are being jeopardised, highlighting that for the disciplined corps to be finally granted this right, there had to be a change in government.

Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia said that he could not understand why PN MP Jason Azzopardi had stated that members of the disciplined corps should not be given the right to join a union of his or her choice but only have the right to join a union.

"I still cannot understand what the position of the PN is on this issue, since I cannot make heads or tails what the PN are trying to say," he said.

Dr Mallia said that PN MP Censu Galea for instance, does not know what he is saying when he states that police should join a house union and everything stops there.

"When the government states disciplined corps' members can join a union of their choice, it means exactly that.

"The only EU countries whose disciplined corps' members do not have a union of their choice to represent them are Malta and Cyprus," he said, adding that this could no longer go on.

Swieqi police station

Dr Mallia said that the mayor of the Swieqi council said that it took seven years for the police station to be opened, despite the fact that the council has a Nationalist Party majority. He said that even the PN mayor found time to criticise the party he represents however PN MP Jason Azzopardi conveniently chooses to ignore this fact and does not mention a word about the inauguration of the new police station which had to become reality under this administration.