225 months

The spin that Labour will undermine Malta's membership of the European Union or even withdraw from it is totally ungrounded and fabricated.

Malta's European Union membership is not being questioned by Labour.

Malta will remain an EU member state and a new Labour government has a proactive European agenda for our country.

Period.

The Nationalist Party's mantra goes like this: "We inherited a disaster and in 48 months we turned the situation around."

The Dar Ċentrali (the PN headquarters) uses this argument when referring to public finance, economy, the environment and so on.

Whether these phenomenal results were really achieved is questionable. Nevertheless, a key consideration beckons: Lawrence Gonzi took over after four legislatures led by his predecessor.

So is the Nationalist Party saying he inherited a country in bad shape?

The PN is basing its campaign on what it claims were its "successes".

If the current Cabinet of ministers was so successful, why did Dr Gonzi instantly agree to change them if re-elected?

Why is there practically no mention of Dr Gonzi's predecessor during the PN's campaign?

Maybe because it would remind people that the Nationalist government has not been around for 48 but for more than 225 months.

The statute of the Good Causes Fund, financed by means of the National Lottery proceeds, clearly states that these funds are to be made available to non-governmental organisations which are non-profit-making.

Despite this, the Nationalist government financed activities organised by private companies through these funds.

The publication of the Mepa auditor's report on the Sant'Antnin recycling plant carries heavy implications.

The politicians involved must shoulder the obvious responsibilities in a case where citizens have been taken for a ride and all of us who had expressed their doubts were labelled as some sort of heretics.

Moreover, the administrators who had a finger in the pie should also be held accountable for their actions.

Andrew Adonis is the man behind Tony Blair's battlecry "Education, education, education!"

Today, Lord Andrew serves in Gordon Brown's Cabinet.

Last week, he went on record saying: "In Britain we introduced a reception class for very young children between the nursery years and the primary school stage 10 years ago and it has been a success... the results of our primary schools are measured by test scores and we have seen that standard national tests rose substantially over the last 10 years in Britain. [...]

"In literacy we have had a really big increase in reading scores among young children. [...] Without education, without investment in schools, we will not make the most of our children and we will not have the high skills that we need for high productivity economy to succeed in the future. And I know that these commitments are shared very strongly by our colleagues at the Labour Party in Malta as well."

Dr Muscat is a Labour member of the European Parliament and vice-president of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.