I never, at any point, worked for Simon Busuttil or any organisation he led
UPDATE – THURSDAY 9.45AM/ Bedingfield has removed the post.
UPDATE – THURSDAY 9.30AM/ Given that Bedingfield did not delete the post in question as I asked him to do to save himself a libel suit, I have informed him that I shall be filing that suit this morning. His mistaken argument is that publishing my reply in terms of the Press Act is sufficient. It isn’t, and that is clear in the law. He has also published my reply in a separate post, allowing his libellous post to be shared on Facebook independently of it. His bad faith is manifest in the fact that, even though he now knows that his post is based on lies, he leaves it there so that those lies are spread further. Because, of course, that is exactly his purpose.
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The Prime Minister’s aide and travelling companion, Glenn Bedingfield, put up a post today claiming that I worked as a consultant to Simon Busuttil and the Malta-EU Information Centre which he led in the past, and that I remain his consultant and ‘person of trust’ today.
I have sent him a reply in terms of the Press Act, and have informed him that I will sue for libel tomorrow if he does not correct his post – as opposed to merely adding my reply to the lies in his post.
I have never, at any point, worked for Simon Busuttil or any organisation he led or leads. These lies are deliberate as the Prime Minister’s aide and the people for whom he works wish to have me classed in the same category as him: a party functionary and His Master’s Voice, paid to pollute the internet with propaganda.
Very briefly, for a few months in 2002 and January/February 2003 (the referendum was in early March), I was engaged under contract to the MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS as a public affairs adviser in connection with the referendum on European Union membership. I am trained in public affairs, but haven’t worked in that field for more than a decade now, having given it up to concentrate on journalism.
My contract was with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, signed by the Ministry’s permanent secretary, and I answered to Patrick Tabone (who will confirm this under oath if required to do so), who was the Foreign Minister’s head of secretariat. My work was entirely in connection with the referendum as a public affairs professional NOT a journalist.
This was 14 years ago.
The government very deceitfully published information in parliament last night listing me among people who were consultants to the Malta-EU Information Centre (at the time headed by Simon Busuttil). This is completely untrue. I never met Simon Busuttil at the time nor did I ever set foot inside the Malta-EU Information Centre. The government’s other deceit in parliament last night was to fail to give dates, making it seem as though I received payment from the Nationalist government very recently rather than 14 years ago.
I have never hidden the fact that I worked for the Foreign Ministry as a consultant in 2002 in the lead-up to the referendum, and I have no reason to do so. I count it among my most successful jobs, and I am proud of having been part of achieving what was a massively positive outcome for all, including for Mr Bedingfield, who was then able to become a European member of parliament, and for his boss, Prime Minister Muscat, who now realises at last how right we were and how very wrong he was to campaign against membership.
I was motivated by my personal beliefs and a determination that Malta should join the European Union rather than be left behind in the cold. The then Labour Opposition could have offered me five times as much in terms of fees to advise it before the referendum, and I would never have accepted in a million years because I knew they were wrong.
My contract with the Foreign Ministry was laid on the table of the House by the then Foreign Minister at the time, at the request of the then Opposition leader Alfred Sant, which further exposes the government’s deceit in including me in a list of consultants to the Malta-EU Information Centre last night.
We have grown accustomed to the government lying at every turn, but that it should now even be lying in replies to questions in parliament is quite beyond belief.