The UK’s decision to exclude Malta from its green travel list was “political” and not based on scientific evidence, Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo said.
Taking to social media to comment on the recent decision by the British government to exclude Malta from its green list, Bartolo said that scientific evidence from the UK’s Joint Biosecurity Centre had made it clear that travel to and from Malta could resume.
"The [British government] is ignoring scientific advice. It has taken a political decision not to allow travel anywhere, despite the pressure it faces from airlines, tourism operators and the people in general," he wrote on Facebook.
He said that it was clear that the British government did not want people to go abroad, wanting them to vacation in the UK itself instead.
“It doesn’t make sense to say that British tourism didn’t restart because the Maltese government didn’t work enough so tourists could come from the UK and not quarantine when they go back. We aren’t the problem”, he said.
“That there are people who blame the Maltese government for a decision which another country’s government takes shows poor thinking, and explains why a PN government isn’t a viable alternative”, Bartolo said.
He was referring to criticism by the PN where on Sunday, the party’s leader Bernard Grech said that had the government taken certain decisions sooner then it would have been added to the UK’s green list.