Labour doesn’t particularly care. They know that it’s their party, and there’s sod all anybody can do about it. The Lord of Burmurrad is happily dishing out fiefdoms to all his starry-eyed supporters, and everybody is busy doing a Lidl sale trying to grab something.

The tragedy is that the ‘switchers’ are not to be seen or heard, doubtless embarrassed by the rude excesses of their erstwhile pin-up heroes. Or maybe, they’re hoping for a turn to get a sniff at the trough.

But by now they should be aware that they haven’t a hope in hell, unless their tongue was publicly buried in the Fearless Leader’s nether regions before the elections.

@charon: No, we are supposed to say “Oh la la.”

You forgot Tunisia.

Most honoured by your endorsement.

Yes the patent has lapsed and the market will be flooded with generics at one-tenth of the present price.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/shortcuts/2013/jun/03/viagra-lose-patent-pfizer-generic

1. DCG: ” Anybody who would choose to ally himself with such a substandard group of individuals/party must by definition be substandard himself.”

I’m totally with you on this, but it’s a big dilemma for the political species.

2. Re Thatcher:

Thatcher’s legacy thrives because the people after her were useless including Labour’s Blair and Milliband. Her choices have had an impact on society, be it human rights, education, home ownership… They had an impact on mentality too – the UK became a country that’s reliant on borrow (hence credit crunch decades later). People seems to admire her because she had guts, but then so had Hitler, Mussolini…

2. I have no problem with people from the Mintoff area . New Labour (to use the Blairite term) does not necessarily mean excluding people from the past (unless they were thugs, corrupt or criminals). It should mean ‘new mentality’ and that’s what Labour should be judged on.

3. What did you expect Louis Grech, Edward Scicluna and Vincent Camilleri to do? Form another party? We know that in Malta a non-bipartisan system is not conceivable. Their choice was either to accept the party as it is or else go for the exit door.

4. Labour’s conceptual programme is where it shot itself in the foot. It was short term planning – yes, you get voted in, but when you set the bar so high, you need to make sure you deliver. In Labour’s (or PN’s) case that would never happen.

As to meritocracy – that is not a concept that could ever be applied to Maltese society where the general level of education and professionalism is still very thin. People still need politics to fast-track their career or to compensate for incompetence.

Labour will undoubtedly end up running on a two-tier system which will lead to its implosion.

5. With regard to diplomats (in the traditional Maltese sense), I believe that they should not exist at all (all I said was that Vincent Camilleri is better than certain others). They are useless and, most of the time, make an ass of themselves and the country they represent (it is incredible the boll…. that comes out when they address professionals or write articles). The way things stand, diplomats bear no incidence on Malta’s prosperity or the Maltese people abroad except when organising some stupid religious or pastizzi gathering for the diehards.

What Malta needs are small and efficient consular offices, cultural centres, business liaisons, and tourism offices in prominent areas (not is some back street!).

Yes, but their legacies are still very present.

[Daphne – Let’s leave aside the fact that I don’t share your view of Thatcher and that I think she was good for Britain. If, as you say, she caused the problems, then what have those who come after her been doing in the last two decades? Imagine crediting Mintoff, KMB or even Sant with the way Malta is today.]

1. If the UK (and the west) is in crisis it’s thanks to the liberalism promoted by Thatcher and Reagan, and her disciples – Labour’s Tony Blair

[Daphne – Thatcher left office 22 years ago, Reagan 24 years ago.]