What the Department of Information didn’t tell us about the PES meeting

You just have to love the foreign press for what it tells us about our government that our own government doesn’t tell us.

Headline: La anécdota del ‘olvido’ del primer ministro maltés marca el inicio de la reunión de líderes socialistas europeos

Lead-in para: La Reunión de Líderes Socialistas comenzó este sábado en Madrid con la anécdota del ‘olvido’ del primer ministro de Malta, Joseph Muscat, en la recepción de los casi 40 líderes socialistas que participan en este encuentro ya que entró sólo sin que nadie le diera la bienvenida.

Translation of headline: The story of how the Maltese prime minister was forgotten marks the start of the meeting of European Socialist leaders

Translation of lead-in: The meeting of European Socialist leaders began today (Saturday) in Madrid with the story of how the Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, was forgotten at the reception of almost 40 socialist leaders who are participating in this encounter, when he entered alone with nobody to welcome him.

In other words, the prime minister of Malta was very late yet again but this time it didn’t matter because they’d forgotten all about him, until he turned up, they realised they had forgotten about him, and it became a joke and a headline.

And that would explain why he’s positioned like an afterthought on the outer perimeter of the group photograph, when at the very least he should have composed the balance properly by standing behind the woman next to him, rather than sticking at her side like a spare tool.