The following has been stuck in my mind for quite some time like a sliver of bone sticks in the throat: 

When HSBC bought out Mid-Med Bank, the Labour Party did a song-and-dance about the Maltese-owned bank going for, well, a song. Not without reason. 

Unfailingly in the Labour media, day after day, this much was drummed into and driven home to its readers, viewers and listeners: The deal reeked to high heaven with the privileged few lining their deep pockets effectively devaluing the taxes of the masses. 

“At the expense of the national interest.” The then-Finance Minister involved in the deal became every Labour Party’s speaker’s favourite punch-bag. 

And he was laid into with ghoulish glee. 

This same Finance Minister was later nominated for the post of one of the EU’s Commissioners. As with all such nominations, the process involves the candidate’s being grilled, among others, by MEPs. A vetting process meant to ensure that there is nothing in the candidate’s attributes, or track record, that might render him or her unfit for the post. 

The Labour Party at the time had three sitting MEPs. Two of them steeped in economics and finance, one a Rhodes Scholar the other a University professor, apparently on a sabbatical. 

And this is the bone that has stuck in my throat ever since: Not one single question put by any of the Labour MEPs made reference to that HSBC buy-out, OK, sell-out, of Mid-Med Bank long ago but not so far away. 

Sometime between the song-and-dance we were regaled by Labour and the moment of truth in the European Parliament, there was an almost 180-degree turnaround. A turnaround that relegated (to borrow Labour’s phrase) “the national interest” somewhere down the line, way behind other interests. 

Why this change in heart by Labour? What happened? In the wheeling and dealing that must have taken place, there is no doubt where the wheel was. But where was the (big) deal? In the coming days, Deputy PM Tonio Borg will be up there for you to direct your jabs, jibes perhaps and uppercuts. Unlike last time, this time the kid gloves will be off. Dr Borg will be in for a round of bare-fisted, knuckle-dustering, below the belt even. If so, be careful you don’t tempt the hand of fate. For unless you deliver a roundhouse, stinging KO, each of you guys will be left with egg on your face. 

■ Joe Genovese

Birkirkara