One wonders why the matter of the introduction of divorce legislation in Malta has to be partly resolved by a (non-binding) consultative referendum, when the whole world except the Philippines has legalised divorce.

This matter should have been dealt with more efficiently than by having to incur the considerable expense of holding a referendum.

But while we are at it, we might as well make the best use of such a costly exercise by extending it to incorporate another two important issues.

The first would be to ask whether Malta should remain in the EU. It has been exactly seven years since Malta joined the EU, and so we have a right to decide whether to remain or go back to being a truly independent and neutral country.

The result of the previous EU referendum was too close to call, and because of the then Labour leader’s blunder in urging supporters either to vote No or not vote at all or spoil their ballot paper, many people did not vote and consequently the result was most ambiguous.

The second additional question I would like to be included in the forthcoming referendum would be whether our MPs deserve a 20 per cent backdated pay rise while the rest of us lowly mortals get peanuts (with ministers now getting their honoraria as MPs too, for an additional €500 a week vs workers’ €1.16 per week cost-of-living increase).

However, in this instance I fear that our representatives will say that voters might be confused in deciding on so many matters simultaneously, and that as regards the honoraria, it is the politicians who know best what is good for them, not the public.