Government brings bill on standards in public life while protecting, promoting and defending cabinet ministers Konrad Mizzi, Manuel Mallia and Chris Cardona and PM chief of staff Keith Schembri

Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech has brought before parliament a bill on standards in public life.

With no trace of irony, the deputy PM – whose government has protected, defended and promoted cabinet ministers Konrad Mizzi, Manuel Mallia and Chris Cardona, (former) parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon, Malta government consul Sai Liang, and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri – to name the more prominent of its scandalous members – said that “achieving high standards in public life is not just fundamental but must also be suitably enforced”.

Carrying on with a straight face, Louis Grech quoted the UK Nolan Report of 1995, which sets down “key ethical principles for public life”, which he said underscore “the need for integrity and respect for human dignity in the pursuance of public life”.

You couldn’t make these things up if you tried.