Malta Labour Party deputy leader for party affairs Michael Falzon, writing in this newspaper a few days ago, highlighted what he sees as being the difference that exists between how the Nationalist government and party perceive things to be at ground level and what the MLP believes the people are experiencing.

Writing about the budget, Dr Falzon described it has having been “a government’s, rather than a people’s budget, relatively empty, but wrapped up nicely”. He then goes on to write that “what matters most to Labour, and for the Maltese, is not propaganda, but the realities of life and how the quality of life is improving for one and all – if at all”.

It was not a new statement from the Labour camp, as opposition officials, including leader Alfred Sant have long been stating that, although the government repeatedly says the economy is progressing and expanding, this is still not felt by the man in the street.

And this is basically one of the more important issues that will be publicly discussed over and over again in the coming weeks and months, as the build-up to the general election gains momentum.

The Nationalists will insist that statistics give a clear indication that the difficulties experienced in recent years, in economic terms, have been surmounted and that the economy is growing. They will say that the fact that Malta is in line to join the eurozone in 2008 is proof that the country’s well-being has been recognised at European Union level.

On the other hand, the MLP will ask questions similar to those raised by Dr Falzon in his article. “What is the spending power of the wages being earned by the middle and lower income groups? What level of disposable income do these families have? Is it improving their lives, or is it eating away at their savings?”

Each and every one of us replies to these questions regularly, and the answer will play an important part when the national election is called.

It always does, because it is not the first time that Labour has based much of its electoral campaign on cost of living matters, claiming that a Labour government would exercise better control on inflation to enable people to have more value for the money they earn.

The Nationalist Party must take note of this over the coming months. Often, it ignores such claims, believing that once the “general feeling” is good – and this includes feedback received by social partners, in particular employers’ organisations – then this factor will filter down to one and all.

But this is not always the case, and the PN would be wrong to assume that the feel-good factor that is being experienced at certain levels is the same feeling that people in the middle and lower scales are experiencing. They would be wrong to think that, with the measures that have been introduced in the budget, people at these levels of society are much better off. Things might improve for some, but many will not be touched by the changes that have been made to the tax bands, just to give one example.

This could be costly for the PN in electoral terms, because it is natural for people to think selfishly, and consider their own individual needs first and foremost. The overall picture might look good – and perhaps it is – but deep down what is important for John and Mary is their quality of life.The Labour Party has made inroads because when it deals with such matters, it is able to say what many people are saying. The PN cannot continue to ignore the bread and butter issues and stay in government.