It seemed that the parliamentary secretary for the elderly had a short political memory, for it to say that all the initiatives for the elderly had been taken by Nationalist governments, MLP spokesmen Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca and Silvio Parnis said yesterday.

In a statement, Ms Coleiro-Preca and Mr Parnis recalled that it was a Labour government that had ensured that elderly people had a pension by which they could be financially independent and maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

A Labour government had also introduced a free health care system in the 1970s and established health centres to facilitate related services for elderly people, services that had been weakened by the Nationalists, they said.

St Vincent de Paul residence for the elderly had been transformed into a place where people could live comfortably, after the home had been neglected by the Nationalists in the 1960s, they said.

In spite of the government’s boasting, services at the home were deteriorating. There was a lack of air-conditioning, the food offered was not monitored by nutritionists and basic medicinals were out of stock.