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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2014 7 News Budget gets lukewarm reception following Sheehan shooting THE survey indicates that the pub- lic received the budget for 2015 less warmly than last year's, which also coincided with another divisive is- sue, namely the controversy on the Individual Investor Programme. A similar survey held last year showed 53% rejecting the programme and 53% expressing a positive judge- ment on the impact the budget had on their life. A year later only 28% felt positively affected by the budget. The percent- age of those negatively impacted has risen from 4% to 17% and those who expressed a mixed "so-so" judge- ment rose from 23% after last year's budget to 37% now. This change can be partly attribut- ed to a seismic shift among Labour voters. While last year an overwhelming 78% of PL voters expressed a posi- tive verdict on the budget, only 55% of PL voters expressed the same judgement now. On the other hand PL voters ex- pressing a "so-so" verdict increased from 12% last year to 29% now. Only 3% of PL voters (up from 1% last year) expressed an outright neg- ative judgement. The increase in people expressing a negative judgement is mostly due to a more negative attitude among PN voters. While last year only 6% of PN vot- ers expressed a negative verdict on the budget, after this year's budget 43% of PN voters expressed a nega- tive verdict. The majority of switchers (47%) expressed a "so-so" verdict. University educated respondents were the least likely to express a pos- itive judgement and the most likely to express a "so-so" verdict. Secondary educated respondents were the most likely to express a positive verdict. But significantly secondary educated respondents were also the most likely to feel that the budget has affected them nega- tively. Interestingly post secondary edu- cated respondents who did not at- tend university, a group which shift- ed towards Labour between 2008 and 2013, was the most positive and the least likely to feel negatively af- fected by the budget but also the most likely to reply "don't know". Methodology The survey was conducted between Monday, 24 November and Thurs- day, 27 November. 637 respondents were contacted by telephone. 400 ac- cepted to be interviewed. The results were weighed to reflect the age and sex balance in the general popula- tion. The survey has a margin of er- ror of +/-4.9%. The question on the budget was asked before the question on whether Mallia should resign. 2014 2013 6% 54.5% 23.5% 28% 43.3% 29.4% 17.3% 40.3% 28.8% 47.1% 37.1% 10.4% 13.7% 17.6% 3% 13.1% 26.2% 10.5% 15.2% 56.5% 47.8% 36.8% 34.8% 17.4% 21.7% 31.6% 32.6% 13% 4.3% 21.1% 17.4% 28% 17.6% 17.3% 37.1% 52.6% 20.6% 3.5% 23.2% CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The inter- nal investigation could explain why Smith has not yet been arraigned for driving under the influence, though he was arrested on 19 No- vember shortly after being stopped in the Tal-Qroqq tunnels by Rapid Intervention Unit officers. Reliable sources have told Mal- taToday that after his arrest, Smith's breathalyser test findings and details of the incident were logged by a police sergeant into the Police Incident Reporting Sys- tem II (PIRS) – a database of po- lice reports. The original report stated that the police had held Smith and took him to the Sliema police sta- tion. He was then transferred to the St Julian's police station where he refused to undergo a breatha- lyser test. Smith was subsequently taken to the Msida police station where, in the presence of the in- quiring magistrate and a court ex- pert, he agreed to take the test. The test revealed that Smith had three times the level of alcohol in the blood than allowed by law. The content registered was of 109mg/ dl, compared to the 32mg/dl legal limit. The sources explained that this was undeniable proof that Smith was driving under the influ- ence. However, police officers who returned to the PIRS database to update the original police report were shocked to find that the en- tire account of the arrest and de- tails of the breathalyser test, had been deleted from the report. Sources said that a third party's password had been used to log into the PIRS database, to delete the part in the Smith arrest report detailing how the Scotsman was found with high blood-alcohol levels. MaltaToday understands that an original printout of the initial re- port exists and is in the hands of the force's highest officials. Top brass have however ordered an internal investigation into the serious matter. Investigators from the Police's IT section have been asked to establish which computer was used and who manipulated the original report. This latest investigation follows a separate incident related to the case where a mother and a daugh- ter were approached by an uni- dentified man who asked them to hand over footage of the argument between Sheehan and Smith. A police inspector whose sister is the partner of Sheehan – who now stands accused of the attempted murder of Smith after shooting at his car in a car chase – could have been included in a line-up of po- lice officers suspected of tamper- ing with the evidence relating to the incident. The witnesses were unable to positively identify the man who approached them, and picked two individuals from the line-up. Separately, on Friday morning, an independent inquiry tasked with establishing the facts sur- rounding allegations of a cover-up on the shooting incident heard a number of witnesses. The witnesses summoned were MediaToday managing editor Sav- iour Balzan, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia, chief of staff Silvio Scerri, Acting Police Commission- er Ray Zammit and Sheehan. Last week, MaltaToday reported that Scerri called MaltaToday on the night of the incident to 'cor- rect' the newspaper's initial online report and insist that the shots Sheehan fired into a vehicle were "warning shots" fired in the air. Police launch internal investigation into tampered report