We all know what Simon Busuttil meant to say. He meant to say that the Labour Party took on Deborah Schembri as a candidate because she had middle class voter appeal and could also sway those who are as yet undecided.

But the choice of words, and the delivery was not at all good. As soon as Dr Busuttil, normally so measured, calm and polite said that Deborah Schembri was taken on by the PL because she had the “face of a Nationalist”, you could tell it would be pounced on.

As we have already said, we know what Dr Busuttil meant to say, but it was the choice of words and the way it was put that went down badly. And this is what we mean when we say that you have to be so, so careful. We are used to policy speech gaffes, they happen all the time and they happen to the best of orators. But when it comes to speaking about people – it is a whole different matter. Who can forget the infamous Gordon Brown incident where he left his microphone on and spoke about the “bigoted” woman who approached him and chastised him. He wasn’t doing very well in the polls, but the incident effectively torpedoed any chance he might have had come polling day.

We wonder how many others will fall foul of the same. Politicians do often sling mud at each other, but when they say personal things to people, it resonates with the electorate. When it is a slip of the tongue that is not prepared or thought about, it cuts to the quick.

Again, we reiterate, we know exactly what Simon Busuttil meant to say – but it came across as an insult and most people – PL and PN supporters will take it at that. And this is where the crux of it comes in. It almost came across as a class-related insult. It more or less sounded that Deborah Schembri’s running mates were inferior to her in terms of class.

There are four weeks to go (almost) and no doubt, the campaign will heat up. Yesterday was a bit of a dead day because the Prime Minister was in Brussels for the EU Summit – another reason why Dr Busuttil had to brush up his act. Today will be the same, and we will know by the end of the day whether or not the deputy leader – who was thrust into 48 hours of party campaigning – has managed to brush the remark off.

Our guess is that he will. But it just goes to show that everyone can slip up, even those who are known for keeping their cool and being measured in all they say. So, four more weeks to go. We have characterized this campaign (so far) as being rather lackluster and a bit stale. But it might just be the kick that it needed. Roll on week 5.