Another possibility

Alfred Sant (Provender For Rumination, March 21) cites the unequivocal statement by EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas that Malta has never been granted any derogation on spring hunting as proof that the Maltese government has been - shall we say - rather less than 100 per cent honest with its electorate.

There is, however, another explanation. It is hardly any more flattering than Dr Sant's appraisal but, in the interests of fairness, it should at least be considered. Could it be that those who negotiated were simply not up to the task of fully understanding what they were agreeing to?

Many years ago, my best political mentor taught me that it was always unwise to move immediately to the conspiracy theory before first examining the possibility of a straighforward cock-up.