Hmmm, does Tonio Borg know about this?

Published: March 17, 2011 at 7:41pm

A BBC report earlier today, under the heading LIBYA: UN ‘TO VOTE ON NO-FLY RESOLUTION’ included the line:

The Ministry of Defence has made it clear that the UK could use its military bases in Cyprus or Malta, or those of its allies, to help enforce any no-fly zone.

When I returned to the story shortly afterwards, that bit appeared to have been edited out (unless my eyes have deteriorated under the full onslaught of all this information).

But if you copy and paste that line into a Google search box, you’ll see that it’s still picking up the original piece and that it has been picked up by other media since.




13 Comments Comment

  1. H.P. Baxxter says:

    Never mind Tonio Borg. Karmenu!

  2. Snoopy says:

    For me, they can use Malta, Gozo, Comino and if it serves them well – Filfla.

  3. J Abela says:

    I’m not surprised. Most British still think that they own a military base in Malta.

  4. Scerri S says:

    It still appears under “Libya: Tory MP David Davis urges UK defence rethink” at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12775452

  5. Mark VB says:

    Anything to remove this regime from our doorstep.
    BBC did edit this but yes, it’s still on Google.

  6. yor says:

    If UN sanctioned military flights use MALTA we can reason that they are humanitarian and screw our skewered constitution.

  7. A.Attard says:

    It’s all the fault of that bastard Mintoff. Had Nato kept their headquarters here in Floriana the story would have been different.

    To hell with neutrality – it got in the constitution by blackmail.

    • Grezz says:

      No. It’s all the fault of that bastard KMB, who first wrecked our education system, then wrecked the lives of several others by a simple phonecall warning Gaddafi of an impending air attack on him some years back.

      All this could have been avoided were it not for that.

  8. Neil Dent says:

    After last night’s UN decision, Al Jazeera was referring to the ‘British base in Malta’ as one of several military options for the looming strategic manoeuvres.

    They even used a map of the region marking Malta (and Sicily etc) graphically, to make sure everyone knows just where this ‘British base’ is.

    I enjoyed Al Jazeera’s initial coverage of the Libyan crisis, but they really have lost a lot of credibility over the weeks with some very dodgy and incorrect reportage.

    [Daphne – The BBC reported the British defence minister as saying yesterday that Britain can use its bases in Malta and Cyprus. The BBC, not Al Jazeera.]

    • Neil Dent says:

      Then it was the BBC and also Al Jazeera. I can assure you, I watched it on there last night, flicking between AJ and Sky after the UN decision.

  9. .Angus Black says:

    “…the UK could use its military bases in Cyprus or Malta,..”.

    Of course this was edited out.

    The Defence Secretary forgot that the British have no military bases in Malta.

    Truly embarrassing!

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