Oh, do stop pushing it, Mr Cassar White

John Cassar White, the government-appointed non-executive chairman of the Bank of Valletta who behaves as though he is the bank’s CEO, told the Times of Malta that Michael Falzon got such a generous pay-off because “this is the first time that a Bank of Valletta employee was called to serve the cabinet, and the bank is committed to help an employee who is called to give national public service”.

Help? Did Cassar White think Falzon was going to starve in his house-with-a-pool on a mere cabinet minister’s salary? Don’t make me laugh.

National public service, indeed – you’d think that Falzon had been called up for national service and has spent the last couple of years under bombardment in Iraq, wearing combat gear.

Perhaps it’s time to ask what HSBC Bank gave its employee, Carmelo Abela, when he was “called to serve the cabinet”. Then we’ll have a proper basis for comparison on how things are done when your government doesn’t control the bank.

HSBC employee Carmelo Abela, now Minister of the Interior. Did he get a golden handshake from his bank?