The Labour Party highlighted that the Nationalist Party and its leader Simon Busuttil had finally recognised that poverty was on the increase when it was in government, rather than simply dismissing this as a perception.

This assertion was made in a reaction to a statement issued by the Nationalist Party earlier today, in which the party had said that it was ironic that the government was speaking against poverty when it made Mark Gaffarena a millionaire overnight through the controversial expropriation of a property he bought for a fraction of the value of the cash and land he received in exchange.

The PN also insisted that the government was not sticking to its pre-electoral pledge to bring poverty down, instead choosing to ignore vulnerable persons in favour of enriching people close to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

But the Labour Party paid no reference to the Gaffarena controversy in its reaction, simply pointing out that the official statistics the PN referred to dated back to when the party was in government and Dr Busuttil was its deputy leader, and these showed that poverty was on the increase.

It said that it had recognised this reality before being elected to power, and that the government was addressing it through various measures including a reduction in utility tariffs, benefits for children living in low-income family, and efforts to combat abuse of social benefits.

Above all, Labour insisted, Dr Muscat's government was addressing poverty through education and work leading to social mobility.

It said that the road ahead was still long, but concluded that finally, Malta was led by a government which recognised that poverty existed and was working to bring it down, rather than one which simply thought it to be a perception.