It is Muscat’s position that should be untenable in any self-respecting democracy. Even if he had not known about this cobweb of shady deals and dodgy companies, the fact that he appointed key members of this coterie to positions of trust and allowed them to hog the corridors of power would be such a gross error of judgement as to render him unsuitable for office.

The fact that he refused to fire them, and actually tried to justify their actions, after they were exposed, puts this whole sordid mess into an entirely different perspective.

That story is part of the “fresh smelly rubbish” which is happening now, David.

Maybe you are right, but if we keep in digging this way we will probably end up with an empty parliament. We are lucky to have people like you to expose rubbish, but we need the fresh smelly rubbish which is happening now.

I wonder what really caused Tom Cruise to steer his latest film away from Malta.

Nonetheless, over the last couple of years, the Malta Film Commission has also been acting as a “commercial” operator of key film facilities in Malta. Film Commissioner Engelbert Grech, who is very close to Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri, has been asking foreign producers to pay high-end commercial rates – they’ve run into millions of euros by now – for seriously dilapidated film facilities such as the Rinella studios or Fort Ricasoli.

Concurrently, Grech is negotiating bid proposals for the construction, redevelopment, management and operations of the Malta Film Studios.

Basically he is declaring publicly that whatever the outcome of any “audit”, Mizzi’s position is no longer tenable.