A Nationalist victory?

In February 1956 an integration referendum was held in Malta. The result was as follows: eligible voters: 149,536; votes cast: 90,383; in favour: 67,607; against: 20,177; and invalid votes: 2,599.

Considering that the number of votes cast in the 1955 general election was 120,719, there were about 30,000 voters who boycotted the 1956 referendum. Adding these 30,000 with the votes against and invalid, the total of those against will be 52,776.

According to correspondent John Saliba of South Africa (June 11), 67,607 against 52,776 is a Nationalist victory and that referendum did not sell "our soul as a nation".

Mr Saliba pities people with short memories. But I am sure Mr Saliba's memory does not serve him right. He maintains that in 1956, the Labour government wanted to accommodate Lord Montgomery. The Labour Party had nothing to do with Field Marshal Montgomery.

If my memory serves me right, at the age of 80, I remember Montgomery as the man of Alamein. Mr Saliba can read Montgomery's "From Normandy to the Baltic", "From El Alamein to the River Sangro" and "Forward from Victory". In all these books, Mr Saliba will not find a single paragraph about the Labour Party.

If in the forthcoming referendum about the EU we will have something like the above figures, does Mr Saliba consider this as a Labour victory?

I pity Mr Saliba, who from South Africa will not enjoy the "benefits" we "will reap from our entry in the EU" after the referendum that "will not sell our soul as a nation".