Yes, of course he’s a crook – that’s by definition

I’m glad that Simon Busuttil has pointed out the obvious at last, because it is astonishing that the prime minister and his fellow-travellers speak and behave as though the corrupter and the corrupted are not equally culpable.

They are championing the “Gozo whistleblower” as though he actually is a whistleblower, an innocent bystander and even actually a victim of Mrs Debono and her husband.

But he’s a crook, and corrupt. If we accept what he has said about Mr Debono, then yes, that’s exactly what he is.

He conspired and colluded to do work which shouldn’t have been done, and then issued false invoices to obtain payment through public funds, to which he was not entitled.

The prime minister has the twisted mentality of your typical Maltese person who thinks that those who are bribed are corrupt and should be behind bars, but those who bribe are perfectly entitled to do so and aren’t doing anything wrong.