Indeed, they had already reported as follows: “A Facebook and twitter storm followed the referendum decision to retain spring hunting, with many calling on tourists to boycott Malta”.

In my view, they deliberately added fuel to an already heated debate by specifically publishing the UK Foreign Office’s usual advice to travellers regarding the hunting season in Malta.

Times of Malta, by using such ‘click-bating’ headline tactics and publishing the resultant vitriolic comments appeared not to give a rat’s arse for the reputation of Malta.

Not in Malta mate

We also had a derogation on the completely free movement of workers into Malta, for the first seven years of membership, remember?

We didn’t fight to keep that, did we.

Hunting in Malta is a centuries-old tradition only for those, ironically, who no longer hunt and rushed out to vote No.

The people you saw out on pick-up trucks decorated with cages and branches last Sunday come from families which, two generations ago, didn’t even have money for clothes, shoes and food let alone guns and ammunition.

Tradition, my eye.

The Maltese tradition of hunting is as a gentleman’s sport because only gentlemen could afford to do it (it was the same in most of the rest of Europe).

Now it is the quintessential redneck sport, and our hunters look, sound, behave and are no different to the rednecks of the American deep south who go on hog-hunts.

So no, it is not a tradition. It is entirely new in that respect.

This particular reflection describes what quite a few lobbies in Malta, like developers, hoteliers, restaurant owners and the bus-owners community, have been doing for a number of years.

The shotgun-toting community had been ‘holding governments at gunpoint’ ever since negotiations for Malta’s joining the EU commenced.

Hence Dr Busuttil’s (unavoidable, I would say) position in the referendum issue.

What sort of unwritten pre-2013 election agreement with the two political parties had been entered into could best be imagined.

I guess that neither of them is in a position to disclose. The fact remains that neither could afford to lose a single one of the many thousands of votes that FKNK and St Hubertus represent.

Now that they have managed to obtain a victory – however tenuous and, probably, also disappointing to them and their not-so-hidden sponsors and godfathers – they seem to have grown even more outrageously daring by proposing that Parliament review the provisions of the abrogative referendum law to limit its potential.

Whether Muscat’s bullying ‘last chance’ attitude will have any effect can be measured by Lino Farrugia’s publicly declaring that he and his colleagues will be approaching the prime minister (not without a threatening attitude, I would say) to have a good talk-to and persuade him to somehow shut up.

Not to mention the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association. Whatever happened to them?

Oh yes, almost forgot – they got their three extra floors, didn’t they?

The UK Foreign Office has published advice on many topics today including Safety and Security advice on the following subjects and NOT just the hunting season:

Crime; Scams; Road Travel; and Swimming

By cherry picking and reporting on the advice given just for the hunting season is just inciting hatred and abusive comments towards others. This is being borne out by the comments on the Times of Malta article in the social media and other message boards.