News that the European Commission is considering VAT on medicinal products and foodstuffs did not surprise me but it must have surprised many of those who voted in favour of Malta’s membership of the European Union.

I am certain this will only happen after the UK’s EU referendum as such a development would certainly be the last straw for the British people’s highly critical view of Brussels.

I am very curious to see whether the government and Opposition will unite in their rejection of such a possibility, as they have done on the question of Malta’s right to decide its own tax regime, and thus send a clear message to the EU that VAT on foodstuffs and medicinal products is a red line for Malta which the Maltese government, whether Labour or Nationalist, will never cross.