The Labour Party, Robert Abela in primis, is trying hard to belittle the enormous scandal – the umpteenth one – that has hit it right in the face.

We acted two years ago, the Prime Minister told us, a few days after it was revealed that hundreds of people had taken disability benefits they were not entitled to. It’s not a new discovery, he insisted, as the matter had been in the public domain ever since a former Labour MP, Silvio Grixti, resigned after being interrogated by the police.

When Grixti had quit in 2021, it had then been reported that he had been spoken to by the police in connection with irregular sick leave certificates. The more recent reports implicate him as having allegedly provided documents for such benefits to be received. Abela said he does not believe that sitting MPs are involved. We’re all free to think otherwise.

We have also been told that the government is doing its best to retrieve the (so far) €2.1 million in undeserved payments that have been handed out. Haven’t we heard this before? Isn’t the government also trying to recover part of the €400 million that were given to private companies for a hospitals’ deal that has now been rescinded?

The government seems to have become an expert in squandering public money and then trying to recoup it. The question is: will the taxpayers get their money back?

That people, under Labour, get what they don’t deserve is something that has become the order of the day. We see some given positions for which they have no qualifications, so much so that others who should be getting them take legal action.

And it was only days ago that the Bishop of Gozo himself spoke out against people who get paid for phantom jobs. They turn up for a few minutes and leave, but get paid a full salary, he charged. Have his words led to any action being taken? The government has remained silent on the issue. If such a practice is being investigated, we do not know about it. Shouldn’t they also be stopped and give back the money they were paid for nothing?

What was reported last Sunday is an insult to the many people who really should be getting financial assistance. The money that was given to people irregularly was snatched away from them. While people were fraudulently getting money they do not deserve, others are being deprived of services they need. This money could have been spent on others who are truly disabled.

When in Opposition, with Joseph Muscat at the helm, Labour promised to eradicate nepotism. The promise was soon forgotten once Labour was elected to power in 2013. The tentacles of favouritism soon began to spread and, now that this benefits fraud scheme has been exposed, we do wonder how far these tentacles have reached. Is it restricted to social benefits only, or has it stretched to other sectors?

When we used to say that corruption has permeated from the topmost rungs right to the very bottom we knew what we were saying. The latest shame and embarrassment for the Labour Party and government only serves to confirm it. The worst part of it all is that (some) people have become so used to corruption that they accept it and want to be part of it. And they vote for it too.

What is sure is that extra effort was employed to keep the lid on the benefits fraud racket. The government kept its mouth shut. People started being arraigned sporadically so as not to attract attention. Independent candidate Arnold Cassola’s statement that the cases were handled by at least four magistrates to make them less identifiable has not been contradicted.

This takes us to the crux of the issue. So far, only the people who benefited from the scheme have been arraigned, and the majority of them, according to The Sunday Times, admitted to the crime, promised to pay the money back, and got off with a suspended sentence for defrauding the government.

What about the people who are behind the scheme?

Will they also be brought to book?

We ask this because we have seen it too many times in the last years that the real culprits get away. The phrase “culture of impunity” has been frequently used to point fingers at the authorities – the police and the Attorney General, but not only – who fail to take action against the bigger fish allegedly involved in wrongdoing.

So, again, we wait for action on this case too. The police and the AG should not procrastinate further. The people who benefited from the racket have rightly been taken to court, but they should not be the only ones.

Those who were behind the scheme, in whatever way or form, should also be brought to book.