Labour adept at land grab

A few days ago, Joseph Muscat had a rare moment of sharing and came out with a proposal: a Labour government, we were told, would go for “land grab” from the sea. Now, like Dr Muscat’s other proposals, this one was also copied – from Dubai, no less – but Dr Muscat is following a Labour tradition here. The Labour Party is well-known for grabbing land, especially if it belongs to people who do not support them. The government headed by Dom Mintoff, for example, grabbed hundreds of hectares of private land that he then magnanimously distributed to the “workers”; in many cases the original owners were not even compensated.

Labour also grabbed several private houses to turn into MLP clubs.

And let’s not forget that they grabbed the Blue Sisters Hospital and expelled the nuns. The Maċina, in Senglea, was also “grabbed” as was Australia House, which they shamefully allowed to deteriorate.

It wasn’t just land, of course: they grabbed banks too and ships, to mention just two.

So, all in all, grabbing is certainly well within Labour’s capabilities.