Labour MP Adrian Vassallo in a letter to The Times today, stood by his defence of moral values and said he was entitled to the support of others, to stand up to Malta's cherished values.

Dr Vassallo said that voluminous comments had appeared in the media since he raised a straightforward question in Parliament relating to (a) certain hotels that had been making money from pornographic TV channels and (b) pornographic channels on cable television.

"I was instantly interviewed by reporters who looked at the matter from the prism of their own interests. Some were more interested in the sensational. Others broke loose from the central point at issue and their input touched off voluminous comments, in the print media and on the web. Most of these comments served the interest of the source from which it originated."

Dr Vassallo said he wanted to make clear that as a Labour MP since 1996, he was proud to have been of service to a party that considered its social conscience as an asset. Throughout his years of Parliamentary service, he was comfortable and secure from party impositions in matters of personal conscience.

"On this specific area of political action, our leader, Joseph Muscat, has been more specific and forthcoming than anyone else. The media gained no credit when it begrudged Dr Muscat his due merit on this issue," Dr Vassallo said.

"On the plane of active politics, moral issues go beyond the arena of religious belief. They often have a bearing on social and economic considerations. Moral laxity has proved to be the harbinger of a wave of single mothers and an unprecedented rise of social benefit costs. The answer is not to deny single mothers their social benefits but to discourage the incidence of single mothers."

This argument apart, Dr Vassallo said he never felt ashamed of his personal convictions in matters of conscience, throughout his political career.

"While I respect the right of dissent on the part of others, I claim my full rights to state my case and to join in the rallying cry for a clean moral environment.

I feel I am entitled to the support of others, more competent than myself, to stand up for Malta's cherished values. After all, these values are enshrined in our Constitution, which bears the seal of approval of the people of Malta."

See blog at

http://www.timesofmalta.com/blogs/view/20100616/fr-joe-borg/to-porn-or-not-to-porn