Insularity at the Mile End

Gone are the days when Malta was proposed as a Switzerland of the Mediterranean. But has this given way to the vision of Malta in the role of "the slut of the Mediterranean"?

In the face of an epochal moment which sees one of the most corrupt and oppressive regimes clinging to power in the face of one of one of the most dramatic demonstrations of people's power since 1989, our opposition leader laments the fact that the government has not unleashed a massive tourism publicity campaign with the intent to draw tourists to Malta, in the light of the on-going instability in North Africa.

This exposes the complete lack of political stature of our opposition in the face of global events. For while there is nothing wrong in diverting tourists to Malta by advertising our wares, there is something farcical in a future Prime Minister ignoring the bigger picture of democracy coming to North Africa and talking about reaping short term benefits.

This unfortunate remark shows that insularity still reigns at the Mile End. Gone are the days when Malta was proposed as a Switzerland of the Mediterranean -an image which in itself evoked shady business unregulated by EU rules. Instead we are faced with a proposition of Malta becoming a sort of slut of the Mediterranean which gives little consideration to human rights and is only interested in pecuniary gain.

For the past decades Labour has addressed the nation as if it was talking to a nation of egoistical shop keepers whose word view is confined to what happens in the few square meters around them. This attitude seems to work in between elections but fails miserably in every general election when people start thinking in terms of who should govern them. It is this attitude which makes labour a far cry from the viable alternative government we deserve.