Economic Growth in Malta vs. UK Labour Policies

I have now been in Malta for 3 months and was thinking about the comparisons of the two “Labour” governments in Malta and the UK.

Both are social democratic parties, the Malta Labour Party is definitely more centre left than the current UK government.

One of the prime focuses in Malta on economic development which has lead to significantly GDP growth but at the cost of some other factors (there is a LOT of building works here!). They also are very open to immigration but this is primarily focused on filling the skills shortages that exist (and makes up 30% of the population here).

This is pretty unpopular with the native Maltese population in general but balanced by very strong public services from healthcare to public services like free bus travel.

In any small population there is focus on alleged corruption . Taxation is relatively low and economic development to encourage relocation of wealthy individuals continues through a number of schemes including the Malta Permanent Residency Program (MPRP).

The UK in contrast has scrapped the “non-dom” scheme and seems very much focused on economic development that is pretty anti business (National Insurance rises, Rates rises, Tax rises).

There must be a balance between these two approaches, but generally I have experienced positives about healthcare, immigration and migration in Malta compared to the UK.