I refer to the editorial Saying Sorry (TMID, 19 February) and in particular to the part which refers to my DNA comment. I can understand that in an election campaign, politicians of opposing parties try to capitalise on any comment that they feel can be turned to their advantage by manipulating its intended meaning.

My comment which drew your and the Nationalist Party’s censorship was merely a political metaphor and certainly was not intended as a discriminatory gibe against a valued section of our society. Political democracy is built on the contrast of ideas and as representatives of a major political party on the eve of a general election, it is our duty to highlight the political difference between our and the other political parties.

In my political career, I have always kept my political language and dialectic within the limits of decency and have built excellent human relations with people in all strata of our society, whether they sympathised with my political views or opposed them vehemently. This is why I believe that the interpretation that you and the Nationalist Party gave to my comment, which was taken out of context, is pure political spin that does not reflect what my intended meaning was.

Labour sympathisers have in the past been compared by the Prime Minister to dead “mummies” (mumji), by the Honourable John Dalli to “people with personality problems” (downers), and by a leading Nationalist columnist to “pigs” (Il-laburisti bhal hanzir li taqtaghlu denbu). I do not recall any editorial in The Malta Independent, or for that matter any other independent political analyst, at the time calling for an apology or censuring such comments.

I, and the Labour Party in which I militate, value and respect the views of every Maltese person. We will work with everyone who wants to improve the quality of life of our people because we are not only passionately democratic, but also firm believers in the importance of national unity among all members of our society whatever political beliefs they may hold.

Dr Charles Mangion

Deputy leader

Malta Labour Party