Certainly things are hotting up and the Prime Minister is showing his extraordinary mettle. I mean who, since the great, beloved Dom has had the gall to do the things the mighty Joseph is doing?
One of his many minnows decides to solve all our health problems by erecting a tent. Nurses and a plethora of people condemn this insane act. Bam! Zak! Boom!
Our quick-to-act PM goes on the offensive. “Off with the tent!” he demands of some other minnow of his. The minister who had decided to erect said tent hides in a corner crying. But also admits how bad his idea of a tent was. That is what great leaders do. They turn all their ministers and underlings into pure little lackeys. Dom would have loved such sad grovelling.
The EU parliament is about to discuss our citizenship scheme. Before the election there was a lot of talk of change in the Labour Party, which became a movement to end all movements.
The last thing the blue switchers wanted was to see an emergent old-style Labour Party. But Joseph Muscat now not only sounds like Dom, he even quotes Dom’s old words ‘Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox.’ Maybe the switchers now feel they were swindled?
Another Dom-inspired thing is the way Joseph Muscat talks only of money regarding the citizenship scheme. He assures us it will get us a billion but no talk of what the EU parliament—which includes his fellow socialists—thinks. In fact he was reported as saying that, whatever parliament decrees, he will go ahead with the scheme as, he says, the vote is non-binding.
Who but a Dom Mintoff would say something like that? ‘To hell with the EU,’ he seems to be saying. ‘I’m capable of doing it my way and alone if need be. New friends, new blocs are always after our friendship.’
And what if the EU shows us a red card? I know they won’t but imagine they do. Or make our life so miserable that we will have to crawl out of the EU club? What then will we say to our new citizens who will have provided the billion euro? Oops sorry we are out of the EU now I don’t think our passport is so fancy is it?
But we—or Henley whatever—will have pocketed the money. So who cares what anyone thinks and feels?