As it happened: Labour pledges tax credits for companies as PN pitches to SMEs
Follow events from the campaign trail throughout the day as they happen
It’s Friday, May 8 and the general election campaign is entering its 11th day.
We’re one-third of the way to the May 30 election date, and the campaign is picking up steam.
The Nationalist Party has promised workers a raft of tax cuts – from lower income tax to no inheritance taxes – in its attempts to woo voters.
Labour has said the PN’s numbers do not add up and promised senior citizens tax breaks when they downsize their homes.
Follow events throughout the day with our live blog.
Refresh the page for the latest updates.
Live blog
'No witch hunt'
8.20pm: PN leader Alex Borg told supporters in Luqa he will not allow Robert Abela to conduct a witch hunt on the experts that helped formulate the Mediterranean fuel hub proposal.
"When you name your experts, I will name the contrabandist. I won't let you do a witch hunt on them. We protect our people. But as Prime Minister you are obliged to say if there was a meeting with a contrabandist."
Read the full report here.
Alex Borg in Luqa. Photo: Jonathan BorgOn-demand bus service in Gozo too
8.15pm: Robert Abela has just wrapped up his speech in Xagħra where he hinted at the party's 100-point plan for Gozo, including an on-demand bus service as part of a broader connectivity push.
Read the full report here.
Alex Borg in Luqa
7.15pm: Follow the PN leader's speech in Luqa here:
Robert Abela in Xagħra
6.51pm: Follow the PL leader's speech from Xagħra here:
Golden hour
6.26pm: It’s golden hour on the campaign trail this Friday. The Labour Party leader has crossed over to Gozo and will soon be joining a rally in Xagħra scheduled to kick off at 6.30pm.
Meanwhile, PN leader Alex Borg will be in Luqa to introduce candidates of the sixth district. That activity is expected to being at around 6.45pm.
Both events will be streamed live on the respective political party’s Facebook pages.
And, of course, we will be bringing you updates from both locations.
Gozo is a 'national priority'
5.41pm: It’s almost time for the sunset rallies but ahead of this evening’s event in Xagħra, Robert Abela met the Gozitan business community where he insisted Gozo is a “national priority” and must continue to develop towards a “model of modern and sustainable prosperity”.
Robert Abela meeting the business community in Gozo ahead of the PL rally in Xagħra. Photo: PLThis is what the children want
2.37pm: The Office of the Commissioner for Children has published an electoral manifesto “of children, by children, for children” listing 15 proposals for the 15th legislature.
Among the proposals are, of course, less homework but more classwork, less work and more time with children through family-friendly measures, less construction and more green open spaces, less discrimination and more friendship benches.
The Children’s Advisory Board within the Commission called on all political parties to “shoulder your responsibility to safeguard our rights and wellbeing when we feature in political campaigns and activities”.
“Our best interests should be your primary concern.”
The PN's proposals in a nutshell
1.44pm Matt Bonanno has the latest on the PN's new proposals. The party will cut corporate tax for micro enterprises from 35 per cent to 15 per cent, while SMEs will enjoy a 25 per cent rate.
The PN would also raise the VAT exemption threshold from €35,000 to €70,000.
Read it all here.
ADPD slams PL restaurant fund
1.23pm ADPD is not impressed by the Labour Party's €30 million restaurant fund. Party spokesperson Brian Decelis argued this is a slap in the face to residents who have long suffered because of these same establishments, especially where public spaces have been taken over commercially, often through illegal extensions.
He called for a fund directed at improving residents' quality of life in tourist-heavy areas instead, with actual enforcement of existing noise and nuisance laws.
Party Chairperson Sandra Gauci added that after public pressure previously forced the government to exclude illegally operating businesses from Storm Harry relief funds, the Labour Party has now launched this new scheme under the guise of improving the tourism product.
She said this is yet another pre-election scheme that prioritises commercial interests over ordinary residents.
'Malta needs a leader who believes in the EU'
1.08pm Alex Borg just made a brief address at a conference hosted by the PN MEP David Casa on the European Social Fund, for which Casa is a rapporteur in Brussels.
During the conference, Borg noted that homelessness and the people at risk of living in poverty are on the rise and that by accessing European Social Funds the PN will be able to help those most vulnerable in our society.
The PN leader also said that Malta needs a leader who always has and always will believe in the European Union.
Int Malta on wheels
1pm Malta is covered in Int Malta billboards – now there’s a moving one too.
Not quite my idea of a day well spent, but to each their own, I suppose.
The Labour-themed vehicle.Stop demotivating the real diplomats - Momentum
12.50pm Momentum has urged a stop to handing out diplomatic posts as political rewards.
Instead of rewarding experience and expertise built over the years, diplomatic posts continue to be given out as favours, Arnold Cassola's party said, as it called for the introduction of a Foreign Service Act to professionalise Malta's diplomatic corps.
You can read the story here.
Ray Bezzina and Daniel Micallef reflect
12.30pm Our editor-in-chief Herman Grech sat down with Bernard Grech’s former chief of staff Ray Bezzina and former Labour deputy leader Daniel Micallef to discuss the electoral campaign so far.
They had some interesting things to say. Watch the special campaign edition of Times Talk in the video below.
Questions to Abela and Borg
12.20pm Many journalists quizzed Robert Abela on his claims about a smuggler being behind the PN’s offshore fuel hub plan.
He replied with variations of the following: That the PN should reveal who is really behind the plan, that the plan is “identical” to the one offered to him, and that Labour would rather focus efforts on getting EU funding to run a gas pipeline to the European mainland.
Over at PN HQ, Borg and Delia were repeatedly asked about the party’s tax cut calculations.
They said that the calculations are correct and in line with IMF methodologies and that Clyde Caruana is not credible when it comes to talking about costings; he issued transport consultants ARUP a €4m direct order just this week, Borg said.
PN pitches to SMEs
11.55am The PN is unveiling its pitches to small and micro enterprises.
They include:
- Slashing the tax rate for micro-enterprises to 15%
- Reducing the tax rate for SMEs to 25%
- Broadening VAT exempt limits to €70,000
- Full 100% financing of workplace training
Adrian Delia on PN's tax cut cost
11.48am Adrian Delia is hitting back at Clyde Caruana’s critique of his tax cut calculations. He says the PN’s estimate that its tax cuts will cost €110m - €130m is a “net” calculation that factors in the economic multiplier effect the cuts will have.
Alex Borg speaking at PN press conference
11.35am Alex Borg is speaking at a press conference. Watch it in the video below.
E-residency for businesses
11.14am Silvio Schembri, who is speaking at the Labour press conference, says the party also intends to reform business laws to allow foreign entrepreneurs to effectively set up Malta-registered businesses without ever setting foot in the country.
ACE welcomes restaurants plan
11.10am Malta’s restaurant lobby, the ACE, says a Labour plan to allocate €30 million to the sector is “much-needed support”. The pledge is to give restaurants up to €300,000 each to improve their offering.
Abela said this morning the scheme – announced yesterday by Ian Borg – was devised following consultation with the ACE.
Artists promised 10% cashback
11am Labour is also promising creatives a 10% rebate on expenses up to €50,000.
Abela targets Polymarket
10.55am The Malta Gaming Authority will be empowered to grant licences to companies in the prediction market space, Abela says. [Prediction markets like Polymarket allow people to place bets on everyday events. Critics say they are gambling sites that do not need gambling licences.]
Labour is also pledging to add 1,300 jobs in the gaming and Esports sectors (to the existing 14,000).
Tax credits for tech investments
10.50am Abela is detailing other Labour proposals for businesses. Here are two that stood out to our reporter Daniel Ellul:
- A 60% tax credit for businesses that invest in new tech, innovation and AI. Labour says it will allocate €120m to this.
- A 175% tax credit for companies investing in research and digital innovation
Labour's economic targets
10.35am Robert Abela is presenting Labour’s public finance targets for the next legislature. They include:
- Annual GDP growth of around 4%
- Rising to EU top 5 in GDP/capita
- Unemployment steady at around 3%
- Two-thirds of GDP growth to come from digital, services, manufacturing (from 40%)
- Reaching EU median on European Innovation Scoreboard
Robert Abela speaking at Ta' Qali
10.30am Robert Abela is holding a press conference in Ta' Qali.
Watch it in the video below.
Momentum's disgust at PA on padel
9.35am Yesterday we revealed that a businessman who built illegal padel courts on Manoel Island is close to having them sanctioned for just €900.
Momentum has now issued a statement expressing disgust.
"A €900 penalty is an insult when these padel courts can generate that amount in revenue in a single day,” Momentum candidate Matthew Agius said.
“This is exactly why this election matters. Malta needs real change. We cannot continue accepting a system where illegal development is rewarded, public demands are ignored, and cultural heritage is treated as an obstacle instead of something that deserves to be protected”, Agius added.
Alex Borg targets shooters?
9.30am PN leader Alex Borg will be meeting with target shooters. The Association of Arms Collectors and Target Shooters has told members they will meet with Borg on May 19.
"We want to make it absolutely clear that this meeting is not an endorsement of any political party, nor should it be viewed as a partisan event. Our sole objective is to ensure that the concerns of Malta’s target shooting community are heard at the highest political level," the Association of Arms Collectors and Target Shooters said.
Labour press conference at 10am
9am The Labour Party has called a press conference in Ta' Qali. It is scheduled to begin at 10am.
Labour approves four new candidates
8.45am Good morning and welcome to this live blog.
Labour has approved four electoral candidates.
- Clint Azzopardi Flores, an economist and former MEP candidate who will contest districts 2 and 9
- Tania Borg, an educator who contested the Gżira council elections in 2024 and who will contest districts 9 and 10;
- Omar Rababah, whose candidacy caused such a stir and who will run on districts 6 and 7;
- George Camilleri, a longtime Labour activist who will run on district 13.