Unfortunately unless people are aware of the different EU structures, it is very easy to mix up the EU Parliament with the Commission or Council albeit they are three separate structures with different functions altogether.

How is Scicluna involved in all this? Being the Minister of Finance, all this story falls within his remit and therefore it is his responsibility to call for an investigation and hope that he comes out clean.

But the culprits are in the same league as himself, and he’s doing the exact opposite of what he’s supposed to be doing – stalling and avoiding.

Why does a person, especially a cabinet minister, allow someone to drag him into the mud? Either because he’s a twit, or because his boss can and will hang out his dirty laundry if the doesn’t follow orders to the letter. I let you choose which one suits best.

I could not agree more. Actually I read a little bit too much – the Sunday London Times, what my FB newsfeed throws up, The Atlantic, the FT, the Guardian, the NYT, articles from the French and Belgian press – apart from books. I use internet feeds a lot because you obviously have to be selective…. Not trying to impress but I do see the importance of getting a wide source of info. However to get back on topic what I am saying here is based on experience of dealing with the institutions. The press is actually very very weak on the day to day of how the Institutions are run and the internal politics and dynamics, both negative and positive. This is unfortunate.

Possibly. But that is not the point. National politicians from other EU member states are also refusing ‘summons’ from the European Parliament to ‘explain’ anything. There is no legal obligation for them to attend; there is rarely political gain to be made from attending, as the Greek leader learnt to his cost when he was harangued here by Guy Verhofstadt. Therefore there is no disgrace here.

When people read The Economist, they read nothing else – and when people are the sort to read nothing, they read The Economist and feel good about it.

I’m not criticising you here – just making an observation. When Maltese people choose to read The Economist, it’s generally because they think that 1. it’s kind of obligatory, and 2. it will save them have to read more widely.

In reality, it just narrows one’s vision. You should read more widely. It’s very easy with the internet because it saves you having to go down to the newsagent for a wide range of expensive newspapers.

Nonsense. He cannot handle the reality of the direct relationship between the issue in the Panama Papers and laundered money from the Middle East and from Central Asia, and neither can the rest of his colleagues in the government and the Labour Party.

His action only means that he has something to hide and that he has no respect for the European Parliament Committee. In fact, he does not want to make a fool of himself and he could not care less about Malta’s international standing.