It was reported that now is not the right time for an increase in the wages of the judges and magistrates, according to Joseph Muscat. However, Muscat said yesterday, the government was not in a position to argue against the pay rises requested by the Judiciary after Cabinet approved a weekly increase of €500 for ministers. "The government failed to lead by example and in any case I believe the time is not right for any of the increases" ran the direct quote.

And there, in those twenty-three-odd words, Muscat demolished any hope we had that the political parties could, on this vital issue, put pettiness and posturing aside and try, for once, to get it right together and not in spite of each other.

The issue, just to Janet and John it, is balancing the respect due and properly expressed to the Judiciary with their accountability, in a sense as a quid pro quo for the respect. People with brains shouldn't need this spelled out for them: it's been done by the Chamber of Advocates consistently for a couple of years.

Muscat demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that he simply doesn't get it, leaving aside the fact that one of his own spokesmen on justice, Dr Jose Herrera, had already said he's not exactly against improving the Judiciary's lot.

You don't make cheap partisan points about your opponents when you're discussing the Judiciary, not unless you simply don't grasp a very basic tenet of democracy: the Judiciary is not – more precisely, should not be - the fawning lap-dog of the Executive or the Legislature, it is their equal and a guardian of the Rule of Law, to boot. Guaranteeing its independence and its well-being is the only way you can guarantee its independence and accountability, in the interests of all of us.

And if you can't see why I repeated "independence" just then, you have a problem.