More people would benefit from tax cuts proposed by the Nationalist Party, contrary to what the Labour Party is saying, the PN said Monday.

As usual, Labour is trying to attribute to others what is of its own making, the PN said in a statement.

Following the speech delivered yesterday by PN Leader Alex Borg, the Labour Party issued a "false claim" that the PN would leave families with one child without any tax reduction.

This is an outright lie, the PN said. Had Labour actually listened carefully to what Alex Borg said, rather than selectively hearing only what suits it, it would have realised that the PN Leader was crystal clear: "a new Nationalist Government would not only retain the tax cuts introduced in the latest budget, but would go even further".

The PN said it has already put forward proposals which, had the Labour Government implemented them immediately, would have benefited far more people than those who benefited from the tax cut measure announced in Budget 2026.

"While the government attempted to copy the PN's proposal to reduce taxes for parents with children, the tax cut that came into force at the beginning of 2026 is significantly lower than what the PN had proposed," the PN said.

This is because, from what the government announced in what it described as "the best budget in history", single persons, couples whose children have grown up, couples without children, and pensioners - who feel the burden of the cost of living just as much as anyone else - did not benefit at all.

In its reaction to the Budget, the Leader of the Opposition put forward no fewer than 50 proposals from which everyone would benefit, not just one category of people. Even before that, the PN had proposed, among others, the following measures:

The creation of a "Parent 2" tax bracket, benefiting couples who choose to have more than one child by an additional €8,500 per year;

A Child Trust Fund under which the government would deposit €5,000 for every new child, increasing year on year and redeemable when that child takes an important step in life;

No tax on the first €10,000 earned from part-time work or overtime;

A package of measures to achieve a better work-family life balance, with the cost borne by the State;

Expansion of parental leave so that families can spend more time together;

Government-paid leave for every worker, including the self-employed;

Extension of maternity leave and government-paid parental leave to a full year - a measure applicable to all workers in both the public and private sectors;

Financial assistance for parents who wish to stay at home to raise their children during the child's second year, equivalent to what the government provides to childcare centres;

Support for childcare services and remote working; and

Increased tax credits for employers to provide more hybrid working opportunities, giving employees greater flexibility

None of this was mentioned by Labour in its statement, the PN said. Nor did it mention that improving living standards is not achieved solely through tax cuts, but also by addressing the issues that are of greatest concern to Maltese and Gozitan families - something the Government failed to do in the latest budget, the PN said.

"Everyday problems faced by thousands of people include traffic congestion and pollution, the lack of affordable housing for those who wish to become homeowners, unplanned population growth, crumbling infrastructure, waiting lists and queues in hospitals together with out-of-stock medicines, environmental degradation, and the rising cost of living," the PN said.

Despite any tax cuts, the cost of living continues to spiral upwards, with many families, elderly people, pensioners and vulnerable individuals struggling to make ends meet by the end of the month. "In this regard, the Labour Government continues to refuse to remove tax from the cost-of-living adjustment, as consistently proposed by the PN," the party said.

These are the issues the Labour Party should have addressed in its statement. Instead, it chose to invent a lie in an attempt to gain some form of political advantage.

The PN added has no problem acknowledging and retaining what is good, and building upon it. But it also has a duty to highlight where the Government is failing, because it is out of touch with the realities people face.

By contrast, Labour is only capable of spin and the dissemination of fake news, the PN said.