Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage is as effervescent as a freshly poured glass of English bitter. Frothy on top. Cool to the touch but warming too. He has injected some spice into English politics and has scored notable victories. I suspect he only lost Newark to the Conservatives because he took his eye off the ball to visit Malta and address the Maltese people about his views of the Common Market.

“You’ve now been part of it for 10 years and I frankly don’t see any benefits that have been recruited out of membership,” he told his audience (June 5).

I need to take Farage to task. I have been living here since before accession in 2004 when pot-holed roads underwrote the fortunes of tyre replacement specialists, ancient buildings were falling into disrepair, employment opportunities were low, inward investment was tepid, tourism was waning and building development was in decline. No fault of the Maltese whose entrepreneurial skills matched and beat the best in Europe. But the playing field was skewed, bank loans were hard to find and the lira was held at an artificially high level, creating a major barrier to economic advancement.

Since joining the EU, these disadvantages have been reversed. Unemployment is the lowest in Europe, inward investment has rocketed, Smart City is a here and now. The roads and roundabouts have become forms of great beauty which alone would attract many more tourists.

Malta has many more fine hotels, the standards of customer service have risen to commanding heights and Maltese restaurants flourish through the incredible efforts of the young, contributing by their hard work to this vibrant and expanding economy.

Adopting the euro was a key moment in linking Malta to its neighbours. It was the grease and the oil which fuelled the Maltese revival. The last Nationalist governments steered a tight but magnificent ship through the storms of recession which blighted southern Europe. Malta alone rode that storm. The present Labour government, under the watchful eye of Joseph Muscat, has maintained its course while tending to the needs of the poorest and most neglected members of society.

I say to the Maltese: beware Britons bearing gratuitous verbal gifts that would betray the Great Revival of Malta. I suppose I have to say to the British: be watchful of glib-speaking Europeans who quite frankly know little if anything of what they are talking. At least when it comes to Malta.