They make the political robber barons of the 1980s look like petty criminals

I agree with this. Corruption and cronyism were rife in the years 1971-1987, and were compounded by violence and oppression, but this government makes those political robber barons look like petty criminals by comparison.

The way I look at it is this: if the Saudi royal family thought nothing of giving the Malaysian prime minister $681 million “as a gift” – the money was just sitting there in his bank account – it will think nothing of doing the same with Maltese politicians.

Our belief that they will refuse any such gift is now severely eroded. I never had any such belief, but I know through the evidence at the polls that tens of thousands did. The difference is that it will not be found sitting in an account at the Bank of Valletta, HSBC Malta or Banif Bank.

And that’s just Saudi Arabia.