Backstabbing, infighting, turf wars, sniping. I'm reading about what goes on behind the scenes at the Labour Party. There are the factions and the cliques and more leaks than a colander. Then there are all those fascinating feuds between party officials holing up in offices to hold secret briefings about each other. This, then, is the hotbed of hate that is New Labour. But before the people at the Red House in Mile End take a break from bashing each other over their head with their 'Rapport tat-Telfa' (election analysis report) to rush off to their libel lawyers, I'll clarify that it's the British Labour Party, I'm referring to.

I've just got my hands on the autobiographies of Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former spin doctor, and that of Blair's wife Cherie, and am intrigued by the deep division behind the façade of party unity.

My impression of considerable internal party conflict was further strengthened after reading extracts from yet another recently-published memoir - that of the former deputy prime minister John Prescott.

The amply-cushioned 'Prezza' has stuck the boot in with his ghost-written autobiography, Pulling No Punches. He describes the relationship between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as one of constant one man upmanship. Other Labour politicians (including Prescott himself) don't fare too well when exposed to public scrutiny. They appear to be self-obsessed and narcissistic individuals more intent on securing their own positions rather than pulling a common rope. And yet, these politicians managed to keep their party in office for a decade. Despite hating each other's guts and not exactly hiding it, they somehow won three elections in a row.

There must be a lesson in there somewhere for the Brown and Blair counterparts over here in Malta. At the moment, the Malta Labour Party is in a state of disarray, with evidence of bitter infighting between rival groupings within the party. Of course, this is not something particular to the MLP.

I bet there are petty rivalries and people jockeying for positions on the smallest and most irrelevant of committees. So I don't find it odd to see that disagreements and rivalries are rife within the MLP. Although a political party's internal strife is newsworthy, I wouldn't report it with the gloating grins of the Net TV reporters. It happens all the time - especially during and after a leadership race. Remember the aftermath of the Gonzi-Dalli contest? John Dalli was not a happy bunny for a long time after that and it was Labour's turn to gloat then. So, it's practically unavoidable to have a party without any feuds at all.

However, it has to be admitted that both the British Labour Party and the PN handle their internal squabbles much better than the MLP does. This is partly due to impressive media management (Alastair Campbell was renowned for his control-freakery when it came to dealing with the press, and everybody here knows who his PN equivalent is).

Nationalist politicians will put on a show of togetherness, placate the media, drum up an issue and generally do anything to divert attention from their embarrassing rifts. At times the party in government is aided in its diversionary tactics by unchallenging media. For example, Tonio Fenech was not grilled half as thoroughly about his pre-election tax cut workings as Alfred Sant (rightly) was on the surcharge. So there is an element of unfairness about the way the media operates (As Kurt Cobain said, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you").

Still, the MLP is very much to blame for its botched media management, this being due to the way it regards the media antagonistically. It is clear that the party views the media as the enemy and reacts to criticism - even when it comes in the form of gentle ribbing - defensively. The commission which analysed the party's electoral showing pointed this out. The MLP's paranoia leads to more media blunders and drawing more attention to its toddler-level touchiness. This completely demolishes any possibility of it being taken seriously as a major political force.

Whoever makes the decisions over at party headquarters has no idea how weak the party comes across when candidates are told not to attend certain television programmes. They're also forgetting that there are viewers who can see through a presenter's bias. The way to dispel rumours and incorrect information is not to cower away from the opportunity of doing but to turn up on Xarabank armed to the teeth with facts, figures and sound arguments and surprise the baying mob and Peppi into silence. And it's no use moaning that you don't get asked the same easy questions that Eileen Montesin asked Lawrence Gonzi (What does your wife mean to you? How will you help animals?), the MLP just has to gear itself up to answering the tough questions.

If it manages to do that, it will start showing up the PN politicians and hopefully start making news for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt