In 1927, the House of Lanvin launched a perfume called Arpège. Its tagline was “Promise her anything but give her Arpège”.

Labour leader Joseph Muscat is promising Utopia but will give us bread and circuses. Roman politicians devised a plan in 140 BC to win popular support by giving out cheap food and entertainment. They reckoned that “bread and circuses”, the satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of the masses, would be the most effective way in which to rise to power.

Muscat’s deceitful promise to reduce utility bills and, thereby, create a new middle class is a prime example of bread and circuses. My utility bills amount to about €1,900 per annum. If Muscat is elected and, through some miracle, manages, in due course, to reduce these bills by five or 10 per cent, I doubt that a saving of €95 or €190 per annum will be enough to make any real difference to my lifestyle.

It definitely will not elevate a working class family whose utility bills, on average, amount to €800 per annum from working class to the much-vaunted new middle class. Unless, that is, this new middle class that the Labour leader is promising to create, will be on a lower level than the existing middle class.

And what will the working class gain from this, I ask?