Louis Fenech’s letter titled ‘Labour‘s perception of poverty’ (TMID, 19 May) was indeed an eye opener.  It confirms how shallow a typical Labourite’s argument can be as he looks through his pink-tinted glasses. His whole story evolved around an observation (real or fictional) of a man opening a skip and retrieving “an oil-stained bag and proceeded to eat, hurriedly a piece of bread”.

Let’s stop right here for a moment. Mr Fenech made these observations, assuming that the incident occurred in broad daylight; otherwise, it would have been rather difficult to see that the bag this man retrieved was oil-stained and furthermore, the man must have stood at a very short distance from Mr Fenech, proudly displaying the piece of bread and not “ate it hurriedly”.

One need not go back 40 or 50 years to find similar circumstances, as incidents like the one Mr Fenech describes happen today in the thousands in countries far larger and richer throughout the world.

Besides, Mr Fenech must have felt a little compassion for this man, compelling him to write the letter but it seems that he never thought of sparing a slice of the pizza he was eating in his car and invited the poor man to share his meal with him. It would have given Mr Fenech an opportunity to find out what had brought this man to this unfortunate situation. This way, he may have been justified in pointing fingers.

The long introduction of his letter and the ample conclusion too, while reserving only two or three sentences to describe this man’s plight, unmasks the letter’s true intent and echoes the Labour Party’s concerns, unfounded as they are, that life during the ‘golden years of the Socialist regime’s rule’ were far better than today.

Labour’s bleeding hearts are often heard exclaiming that “GonziPN qatilna bil-ġuħ” (GonziPN is starving us). How many of them would, at the same time, be planning for a second vacation abroad in a year?

But not a slice of pizza for a hungry old man! Not very convincing, Mr Fenech.

■ Joe Martinelli

Canada