There were times when negotiations between the prime ministers were warm; times when they were hot. But they were always blunt: "If you give up the position of trying to screw us for everything you might get more," Edward Heath told Dom Mintoff during a meeting at Downing Street on November 11, 1973.

The discussion between the two at that point had turned - not for the first time but for the last for Mr Heath since only months later he lost an early election - on how much money Malta could gain from what was then known as the European Community.

However, the British were sceptical since they recorded at the time that Malta had a per capita GNP of £400, higher than that of Portugal and Yugoslavia, and that the island's foreign exchange reserves per capita at the end of 1972 were seven times those of Britain.

Mr Mintoff also told his British counterpart that if Europe was going to make political and strategic sense, the Community must embrace Mediterranean countries. "If there was a serious effort to do this, the Middle East problem would solve itself, as Israel would then have the security it needed," the Maltese Prime Minister is recorded as saying to Mr Heath in a declassified British government document.

Mr Mintoff argued that Britain had a great role to play in the coming together of Europe and the Arabs and Malta was prepared to help as much as possible. However, Mr Heath was cool on that idea because he had been briefed beforehand that the Maltese Prime Minister was no longer acceptable to the Israelis due to his links with Libya.

Israel's Prime Minister and first woman leader at the time, Golda Meir, is recorded by the British as having a "strong personal aversion to Mr Mintoff".

Therefore, the British concluded, his claims to be a mediator between the two sides no longer had any foundations since relations between Israel and Malta had "never been so bad".

Relations between Mr Mintoff and Lord Carrington, the British Defence Secretary, were of course better but their negotiations could be amusing though difficult. This is how the conversation went during one telephone call:

Lord Carrington: "My first reaction to that Dom is is it worthwhile if the other things are not agreed?"

Mr Mintoff: "Well look, there is always this question of the egg and the chicken, you know, and the hen."

Lord Carrington: "Yes. But it depends how broody your chicken is.... We have made our position so plain over so many years. At least it seems like years. Dom, do try and get it sorted out and get it settled one way or another. We can't go on like this."

Mr Mintoff: "Don't make me laugh, because everybody will think that we are flippant."

Lord Carrington: "We are never that."

And another verbal duel was over. At least for a few days.