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That same year, the government said that 1,756 parents were summoned before a tribunal over the past three years to answer for the fact that their children had not been present at school.

In 2020, the government said that almost €500,000 in absenteeism fines had been issued over the past three years.

“If there is something I disagree with, it’s when people in power don’t apply the law to themselves as they do to everyone else,” Azzopardi said.

“This government has boasted about how it is charging parents in court for not sending their children to court. The police charged them and parents got fined. This government has also significantly increased fines for absenteeism.”

“It wanted to send a message, and rightly so, that it is wrong for parents not to send their children to school. However, it is a well-known fact that Robert Abela is failing as a parent by not sending his daughter – who is not to blame at all – to school up until yesterday and today. This isn’t the first time either, it’s the hundredth time.”

“So why haven’t the Education Department and the Police Commissioner charged Robert Abela in court as they charged thousands of other parents? The children aren’t to blame at all, they are innocent angels in my eyes.”

“However, parents are responsible not to deny their children from school. What sets Robert Abela apart from those parents from whom he collected €500,000 in absenteeism fines?”

“This is the establishment that thinks it can spit in the faces of regular workers.”

Azzopardi concluded with a message to Labour MPs and candidates, who he said have complained to him about the Prime Minister’s “arrogance”.

“You are right but it is not enough to tell me about it. You know what you must do,” he said.