Not appreciating, apparently, the wisdom of the old adage when they found themselves in the hole dug through the ill-advised comments of their Chairman (or do they call him President, nowadays?) Mr Ralph Axiak, the Marsa Sports Club continued to dig.

Let me spell it out for them: when you are in a hole, you should stop digging.

Persisting in trying to justify the unjustifiable only leads to tears before bedtime, as it did when the Health Department actually said something and made is as clear as day that a burkini is not, never has been and never will be unhygienic. So that's one of Mr Axiak's arguments down in flames, to start with.

The rest of his justifications, arguments about private clubs and their rules, about others (the French?) having similar rules and, for pity's sake, the lady concerned not even being an Arab, just do not cut it.

At all.

A private club does not have the right to behave abominably towards anyone and it certainly does not have the right to enact regulations that are discriminatory. If it did, a club for Taghna Lkoll Switchers Only could be set up with impunity.

What do you mean, there already is one? No, that's just the impression you've been given, banish the nasty thought from your head.

The fact that racist attitudes may exist elswhere, even in France, does not justify such attitudes being allowed to breathe here. And nor does the argument that runs "you trying doing that in a Muslim country, see what happens to you" have any merit, either.

We are meant to live in a civilised country where people of any sex, colour, politics or creed have the same rights, and the sad fact that people don't subscribe to this basic tenet of civilised behaviour worldwide is their problem, it shouldn't be ours.

What next? Eccentric protesters being bundled off to the loony bin by the Republic's finest? Inebriated babes in bikinis hauled off to Court by the fuzz?

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.