A LITTLE INSIGHT INTO THE MIND OF DCG – Edwin Vassallo’s styled “Malta’s Our Lady of Sorrows”
With today being Maundy Thursday and tomorrow Good Friday I think it is appropriate to reflect a little on Malta’s Edwin Vassallo’s-Our-Maltese-Lady-of-Sorrows-styled the late Daphne Caruana Galizia. This was further prompted by reading in yesterday’s “The Times of Malta” (where else?) that a certain British Labour MP Ben Bradshaw had brought DCG to the attention of the British Parliament asking the British Government to:
Give its full support to investigations regarding her death (we don’t need their support or anybody else’s support – we are doing well enough on our own thank you), and
DCG met her death investigating world criminality and that were one to follow his gist carefully seems – my goodness – to be centred around and about Malta.
Now I would have thought it is highly unlikely that a British Parliamentary chap should spring out of his bed one bright Spring morning with DCG on his mind and her supposed quest to investigate world criminality.
A British MP should have enough on his mind to think about, such as the present problems with Russia, how a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned by toxic chemicals in Britain, what is to happen with Brexit and particularly the Brexit frontier issues between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well of course as continual Scottish pressure for independence.
So, who put the information to Bradshaw and who urged him to instigate and deliver his speech to the British House of Commons? I decided to study this Bradshaw’s background.
The son of a vicar he started an early career in journalism and then moved to the BBC. In 1997 he entered Parliament as MP for Exeter and under Labour held various Ministerial positions. In 2002 he was accused of being “a liar” by firebrand MP George Galloway after a furious contra-temp in Parliament but then both withdrew their accusations.
Shortly after that he was sent to Brussels to negotiate changes to the Common Fisheries Policy on behalf of the British in-shore fishing fleet. However, during an interview with “Newsnight Scotland” regarding the negotiations he was unable to answer questions about the size of the Scottish inshore fishing fleet and quota catches of particular species (shades of Adrian Delia!).
In 2007 he was appointed Minister for Health but again fell flat on his face when he announced that because of a shortage of dentists patients with dental problems should visit their GP and thus unleashed a storm of criticism that “doctors are NOT dentists”. Later he opined that British doctors were operating a “closed shop” to prevent patients from changing surgeries and was charged with talking “absolute nonsense” by doctors’ leaders.
In May of 2009 he was accused of exploiting MPs’ expenses by claiming the entire interest bill on a property he shares with his partner, claims which Bradshaw denied.
Known to be openly gay (no problem wrong in that) on 24th June 2006 he entered into a civil partnership with his partner Neal Dalgleish.
So this is our man Bradshaw. Has he ever actually been to Malta? I have no idea. The curiosity remains as to who put him up to bringing such matters to the attention of the British House of Commons? Was he prompted by David Casa through their earlier European connection in Brussels and Casa’s well-known continual barrage in denigrating Malta? That remains a mystery.
However, in the light of him portraying DCG as some kind of wonderful goody-goody free speech and liberty upholder, I have collated a few samples of her writing, or writing that she allowed to be commented on her page.
On 26th January 2012 she wrote: “I often wished that Mintoff lives long enough to suffer in a state in which he could not help himself, to vegetate and smell his own rotting body. The longer he lives in that state or worse, the better.”
During Mintoff’s funeral on 25th August 2012, she carried on her page the following: “Now his coffin has just been loaded onto the gun-carriage amongst much pomp. Watching television, there are thousands who wish it could have been placed in front of that gun instead and blasted to kingdom come, for all the harm, damage and ill-health that this godforsaken man caused to so many people during his lifetime.”
Later, she wrote that when former Prime Minister Mintoff and former Minister Lorry Sant approached the gates of Hell they were even turned away by the devil.
However, none of these can ever supersede her Blog which was featured on 28th August, 2012 shortly after Mintoff’s death and which was written in Maltese and which I HAVE NOT translated into English because of its vile and insulting obscenities.
Those who know the Maltese language well will understand my reasons. Did she actually write that? Whether she did or not, she still featured this outright piece of disgusting obscenity on her Blog and therefore must carry a great degree of responsibility for it.
For good measure, she promptly BLOCKED me from her page when I criticized her and her writing. So much for liberty, freedom of expression, freedom of speech and upholding civil liberties – and I can assure you I did not write obscenities – just factual criticism that she must not have taken a liking to!
When making his pronouncement that DCG was “Malta’s Our Lady of Sorrows” Edwin Vassallo may not have been aware of these comments so he would do well to study them.
Interfering busybodies like Ben Bradshaw should get stuffed and mind their own business and should use his brain (that is, if he has one) before shooting off his mouth.
ALBERT JEROME FENECH
