To hopefully conclude, your argument, simply put, is: Dalli was known to be fiddling around and this embarrassed Barroso to such an extent that he had to clutch at straws to get rid of Dalli. The 60m is irrelevant. The conjecture that Dalli was fiddling, along with his notoriety, is the basis of your argument.

This is not what I saw. What I saw was an initially reluctant Dalli take the post of Commissioner very seriously, gradually building up on his knowledge and doing a fine job indeed (evidenced by various MEPs’ comments).

But for the sake of your naïve argument: it was Gonzi who embarrassed the former Maoist commissioner, Barroso for nominating Dalli in the first place.

Why did Gonzi propose Dalli? We all know the answer to that question.

[Daphne – He shouldn’t have proposed him, and he shouldn’t have sent him. It was wrong on several counts and for several reasons. But I said that at the time so nothing new here. It seemed to me at the time to be the equivalent of getting rid of a housemaid you suspect of thieving by recommending her for a job in a friend’s house.]

Notoriety doesn’t come out of nowhere, true, but you miss the point. Every case has its own merits. In this case, that same notoriety is what attracted the tobacco company to mess around with Dalli through one of his former henchmen.

Yours is a completely Europhile argument. It assumes that the EU Commission comprises of angels, if not demi-gods, who can do no wrong. But Dalli is small fry compared to these people. Dalli has made his millions and has got his contacts. He does not need a former stooge like Zammit to net him a cool 60m for pie in the sky.

Grow up, Daphne. And take those blinders off your eyes.

[Daphne – Kevin, my dear, if you are going to set about telling women to grow up, I strongly suggest you start at home.]

‘Naïve’ is what best describes your argument. If it’s not really about the 60m then how do they figure?

It’s really about the tobacco industry being very unhappy with Dalli and finding convenience in his notoriety. That’s the bottom line.

[Daphne – Notoriety doesn’t come out of nowhere, Kevin, and as a former police officer, you know that. Can you imagine doing the same thing with Tonio Borg? Why would they even want to or bother to try? That man was up to something in Brussels just as he was forever up to something in Malta, including trying to sell the government of Malta a power station made by a company which he served as a consultant, while EU Commissioner, and then working to strike a deal with the Opposition instead, a deal that involved going on the Labour Party’s television station repeatedly to run down the Maltese government – as EU Commissioner. How do you think the EU Commission felt about that? That alone was a resignation/removal matter of the highest order. The man is disgusting. He should never have been given that important position. There was a very significant risk that he would present a problem to the EU Commission and in fact, he did.]

Perhaps, Daphne, there is too much about Barroso you don’t know. But Barroso’s questionable action is no surprise to me, given the power of the tobacco industry.

What amazes me is that people who believe to be rational and knowledgeable would believe that Dalli could have thought he could gain €60m for something he was not in a position to deliver. That’s NOT how it works, and Barroso knows this, hence his shiftiness all along. He reckoned that given Dalli’s fame he could bully him into resignation and silence.

Let’s also not forget who gained by this. You see, while Barroso and OLAF played the violin, billions of euros were NOT lost as a result by those who conspired against Dalli.

Gonzi, by the way, directed the local orchestra.

[Daphne – Oh for heaven’s sake, Kevin. You can’t possibly be that naive. In your keenness to find yourself a conspiracy theory, you miss the most obvious explanation: that the EU Commission probably knew that Dalli was up to the same things he was probably up to (and I say ‘probably’ only for legal reasons) back in Malta. We exported our problem and they kicked him out. It’s not really about the 60 million, is it.]

Not at all. Gonzi is largely irrelevant to me and I’m not even a Dalli fan.

I will not delve into the minutiae of the Dalli case, certainly not here. Suffice to say, however, that unlike you I always read both sides. This case has ‘ensnarement’ if not ‘entrapment’ written all over it. And I repeat: it was clear from Day One – the day Kessler delivered his garbled message.

[Daphne – All right, Kevin, let’s accept your view. Next step: ask yourself why the European Commission would have wanted to ensnare one of its commissioners. Because it wanted to get rid of him. Why would it have wanted to get rid of him? Perhaps because he moved from Malta to Brussels but didn’t change his behaviour? As I wrote when he was appointed: we exported our problem.]

@kev – If it is as you say and Dalli is so innocent, what happened to his eagerness to be tried in court so that he proves his innocence?

Norman Lowell gave his support to Joseph Muscat because he is convinced Muscat will send all illegal immigrants back to North Africa, as per his credo, or Credo. His acolytes, especially the extremely prolific Stephen Farrugia, are just as deluded.

Now that Labour has duly swept to power, the boats keep coming, and the policy hasn’t changed. Hence the hu go fik.

Check AX Holdings annual report. Go to ‘miscellaneous expenses’. Ask a shareholder to demand an itemized breakdown.

And not a single f*** was given.

They don’t care. They will achieve their ends within the five years they have. They’re not banking on more.