Henry Frendo
'The Origins of Maltese Statehood'
BDL
BDL Publications
1999
728pg
In the 1950s Dom Mintoff had come up with the idea of integrating Malta with Great Britain.
The idea was to raise the standard of living in Malta to that enjoyed by the British at the time - a huge improvement on the post-war Malta.
There was no template for this. And for the British this was an entirely Maltese idea which the British at first went along with.
The Maltese would have their own representatives in the House of Commons, they would enjoy the British standards of living and elections free from interference by the Church.
Then a referendum was held. It was approved by a relative majority of voters but only a minority if one were to consider those with a right to vote, those who abstained and those who voted against.
In other words, in British eyes, the reference had been inconclusive.
Then there were riots on the streets against more job losses because of the continuing British rundown. Dom Mintoff resigned.
The Constitution was suspended and the British continued to govern on their own.
Meanwhile there was the debacle at Suez, and the accompanying loss of face. The British had to cut down on the forces deployed in the Mediterranean and on the British forces present in Malta with accompanying job losses.
The whole idea of integrating with Britain was forgotten and quietly buried.
Fast-forward now to 1963. Labour found itself relegated to the Opposition, losing its power. And the Nationalist government of George Borg Olivier was leading Malta to become independent.
Dom Mintoff had always been resourceful and energetic, never accepting defeat.
This was when an idea struck him: what if Malta were to try and integrate with Italy?
For long centuries Malta had been part of Italy. On a clear day one can glimpse the Sicilian coast and Mount Etna in particular.
The Maltese language was in part derived from Italian and most Maltese (then, rather more than today) could understand and speak Italian.
So Mintoff commissioned a quiet study on the legal aspects of the relationship between Italy and San Marino.
The two main parties had their own links to the corresponding Italian political parties - the Christian Democrats by the Nationalists and the Socialists by the Labour Party.
Visits were taking place all the time - the Maltese Socialists met Pietro Nenni and others while the Nationalists met Amintore Fanfani and others at Christian Democrat meetings in Rome and in Europe.
The main PN politicians who carried out contacts with the Italian side included the veteran politician Antonio Paris, education minister, who was honoured by the Italian state.
Other ministers included Giovanni Felice, deputy prime minister.
The Italo-Maltese relationship was fostered by Dr Onofrio Messina, the Italian consul in Malta.
An official government delegation including top civil servants and representatives of the private sector visited Italian industries such as Eni, Fiat, Ansalvo but the only projects that were pushed forward were a car ferry service between the two countries and the inclusion of Malta in the Alitalia flight network.
However, most of the ideas expressed and the projects that were dreamt of, except for these last two, came to nothing.
Archbishop Gonzi came to know about Mintoff's initiative and disagreed with it. He told Sir Edward Wakefield there was no advantage for Malta in it - Sicily for instance was worse off.
Thus the idea, never admitted in public, was quietly buried.