Education Minister Evarist Bartolo believes there is a concerted effort to harm the Labour Party via news emerging from the Daphne Project.

“I think there are those who hate the Labour Party so much that they will stop at nothing, even damaging the country in the process… To hurt the whole country, with thousands of people who depend on the economic sector – I think that is very irresponsible,” he said.

Taking questions during a visit to a State school in Mosta this morning, Bartolo – who is also a lecturer in journalism at the University of Malta - said that “the way this whole thing is being orchestrated now, is very, very unfair.”

The Daphne Project is a consortium of 18 international media houses, including The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, and Times of Malta, among others, who is following up on Daphne Caruana Galizia's work.

Bartolo said that those who claimed to believe in the rule of law, had “a very interesting definition”.

“They are a law onto themselves. They want to be prosecution, judge, jury, and if possible executioner as well,” he said.

Bartolo had been one of the few ministers to say he would have resigned if he had been in Minister Konrad Mizzi’s position. Mizzi, together with OPM chief od staff Keith Schembri, admitted to opening companies in the secretive jurisdiction of Panama.

Asked what he would say to Labour Party supporters who felt uncomfortable with the Daphne Project revelations, Mr Bartolo’s advice was to keep in mind that those who were “ready to hurt the country, simply to try and damage the Labour Party in the process, I think, are doing a disservice”.