Charles Xuereb is a cultivated and well-meaning person. Over the years I got to know him well. He is a Francophile, as I am. 

I am also an Italophile, as well as an ardent Anglophile (despite Brexit). 

But Xuereb allows his Francophilia to lead him down a misplaced path where removing the vestiges of British monuments and symbols from Valletta and the George Cross from the Maltese flag have become his obsession.

But to what end? Is it to expunge a major part of our history? As a general rule, unlike Xuereb, I am against iconoclasm. Those who want to tear down historic monuments or to rewrite history are rarely balanced.

An attempt to rewrite our history can justifiably be compared to the destruction of historical sites in Syria or Afghanistan since the difference here is only one of degree. The monuments and the George Cross on our flag are a part of our national history and proud heritage. They should not be tampered with. 

Historian Joe Pirotta, who has written most objectively about the end of colonialism in Malta: Fortress Malta: The Final Act, 1945-1964, has rightly called Xuereb’s ideas absurd. Absurd and anachronistic, they certainly are. They are also plain wrong historically. 

I was fortunate to catch the tail-end of the British Empire, with Britain still globally an important country that had been instrumental in saving Europe from German Nazism and Italian Fascism (albeit almost bankrupted by its efforts). Our grandparents knew Britain when it was still the world’s superpower.

The British Empire gave the citizens of Commonwealth countries law and order, democracy, honest government and free trade. It suppressed slavery, internal strife and a plethora of barbaric practices. It gave its citizens the opportunity to travel and trade. It gave them employment and promoted freedom of speech, freedom of religion and equality before the law.

One can be averse to the capitalism associated with the Empire – and yes, like all systems run by human beings, mistakes were made – but rarely do historians acknowledge that the western civilisation epitomised by the British Empire (and other European powers) has done more than any other to relieve the plight of the world’s poor and oppressed. 

In general and on balance, the Empire was a force for good.

More than 50 years after Independence, Malta is able to look back on the century and a half of British colonial rule with a measure of objectivity. It is a successful Parliamentary democracy with a remarkably solid economy. As one looks around the Mediterranean littoral, it is a beacon of light in this turbulent sea: affluent, democratic and free. Much of that success can be attributed to the foundations of Britain’s legacy to Malta. 

The solid institutions that were established, painfully and sometimes in the face of British opposition, during the colonial period survive and thrive to this day. Prime among these is our liberal parliamentary democracy, an embedded electoral system which sees over 90 per cent of voters participating. 

When we look at countries around us, we find that Malta’s parliamentary structure is unique. It is a system learnt from the British and modelled on their institutions. It gives Malta a priceless stability when compared to our neighbours both to the south and the north.

In general and on balance, the British Empire was a force for good

More importantly, however, the concept of the rule of law – even though we tend to be far too careless about it – is derived from an understanding, which is British, that forms the bedrock of any democracy. 

The other important instruments of society – the judiciary, the armed forces and police, Malta’s education system, the civil service and the concept of freedom of speech and the media – albeit imperfect, stem from institutional structures honed during the British period.

English – the world’s language – has ensured that in an island that borders both Africa and Europe, a nation that is blessed with the facility to learn, speak and use English has gained an advantage of incalculable proportions over other countries in this region. 

We have been fortunate that the founding fathers of our constitution 50 years ago, were far-seeing and broad-minded enough to make English one of the official languages of Malta. Our bilingualism gives us a huge competitive edge. English has been our commercial and political lifeline to the world.

But the matchless feature of Malta’s historic heritage is the presence of the George Cross on the Maltese flag.

 Far from being a mark of colonialism, as some who have no understanding of history sometimes assert, the George Cross is an outstanding tribute to that generation of Maltese people – our parents, grandparents and those my age – who suffered privation with great courage and fortitude and fought willingly and fervently against Nazism and Fascism eight decades ago. 

Those who argue that the Maltese were coerced into a war not of their making have no conception of the loyalty to the British democratic values that impelled them to do so. 

The vast majority of Maltese endured the bombardment and horrors of that war not only because geography had placed them inescapably in a vital strategic position, but because they believed utterly in the cause for which the war was fought.

The George Cross is a distinguishing mark of valour and Malta is unique among countries in bearing it proudly on its flag. Its presence there is a profound projection to the world of Malta’s historic identity and nationhood.

Despite the inevitable political tensions that have sometimes divided Maltese and British politicians – especially in the wake of Independence when an economically weakened Britain was disentangling itself from colonial involvements as fast as it decently could – the other strong legacy of Anglo-Maltese relations is the cross-pollination between the two nations which has taken place over the last two centuries. 

We can see this most vividly in the inter-marriages, the literary, musical, artistic and educational ties, and the thousands of Britons who have been welcomed here and made Malta their home.

The British legacy is epitomised by a strong and abiding friendship that exists today when, despite Brexit, Malta, a sovereign state in the European Union and the Commonwealth, stands confidently shoulder to shoulder with Britain on so many issues of common concern.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece

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