No matter how much make-up Joseph and his wife put on, how much they smile and fake it, bil-faccata biss jibqghu u minghajr sustanza.

Jahsbu li ghax jilbsu glekk u jgibu Dr qabel isimhom saru kapaci jmexxu pajjiz.

Viva PN.

We were ready, were they?

Ah, that’s one trip down memory lane you’re taking me.

On the way to Valletta with my mate Spud, we were stuck for a good fifteen minutes next to the Labour Party club in Msida.

The anti-EU convoy was driving to Marsa and traffic was down to a crawl.

With me wrapped up in the glorious EU flag, we were assaulted by a horde of Labour harridans, all decayed teeth, peroxide steelwool hair and gold chains, banging away at our windscreen.

I just sat there giving them the finger. I figured EU membership was well worth death or permanent injury.

I came down for the referendum to vote. On Sunday afternoon, I set off with my father to get to Spinola. We couldn’t drive past Super One as they had blocked the road to hold the infamous Partnership Rebah meeting.

We were utterly amazed, drove back home and watched this young announcer on One declare that the referendum had been won by the Labour Party.

I was beside myself, my parents speechless. I was thinking how could someone so young manage to lie through her teeth and smile at the camera whilst doing it.

When I called my friends in Italy, they couldn’t understand.

They kept asking how a ‘partito di sinistra’ could have such an anti-EU stance. They just couldn’t hold back the indignation. Especially those who thought I tended to be facetious about Labour.

Labour did this in 2003 and Joseph was in charge of the spin.