UPDATED/Exclusive: Transport Minister Joe Mizzi shopping at Primark in Marble Arch with his personal assistant yesterday morning

Last night Ifound a message from an ex journalist friend who’s now in London.

Hi Daphne, saw Joe Mizzi walking into Primark this morning at around 10.30 and followed him in. Here are some great shots. Looks like he’s having fun.

And at the end, you’ll find a picture which another reader took at the airport in London yesterday evening, of the Transport Minister waiting for the flight back to Malta. This picture shows clearly that the woman with whom he was shopping at Primark is his personal assistant at the Ministry – Mariella Agius nee Vassallo, a former policewoman, who he handpicked for his private secretariat from her civil service position in the Department of Social Services.

Her brother, Rodney Vassallo, is a sports reporter at TVM. Her daughter, Martina Agius, has been given a job at Air Malta, which is supposedly fighting bankruptcy, along with several others since March 2013.

Mariella Agius, the Transport Minister’s personal assistant, who is seen with him in the Primark/airport photos above.

Her daughter Martina Agius, who along with many others, including Labour Party deputy leader Toni Abela’s daughter and Super One reporter Trischia Falzon, has been put on the payroll at Air Malta while it is fighting bankruptcy.