So why, they (some of them) ask, don’t I ever write about the total foul-up that is modern England, instead of batting on all the time about what a mess the Maltese have made, and continue to make, of their once beautiful islands.

The simple answer is that I don’t write about England in this newspaper because other people do that. I write about Malta because I live here and because most of the readers do. I write about English matters in English publications – if that’s okay with you.

But in the interests of journalistic balance, a concept unknown to many Maltese, I’ll take a crack at it.

All is far from rosy in the land of my fathers. If I start from here, there is chaos at London airports. And BA has cancelled 10,000 flights scheduled for winter, almost two million seats. The trains are on a system of rolling strikes (not a problem Malta is likely to face, I know).

Dock workers at Felixstowe, Britain’s biggest freighter port, are on strike (at the time of writing); as are postal workers and – don’t laugh – barristers (court advocates). Teachers and health workers are thinking about joining them.

An ambulance can take up to four hours to respond to an emergency (last time I called one on Gozo it took six minutes). If you need to see a doctor you apply, first, for an appointment to speak to the receptionist who may arrange for a ‘telephone appointment’ to speak to the doctor who then decides whether it’s necessary to see you: that can take weeks. Hospital admission (unless you arrive on a stretcher) will take months.

Last year – here are figures to make your eyes water – there were 4.6 million reported cases of fraud in England (and Wales), three million cases of theft and 1.6 million of violent crime. Only one suspect in 1,000 was taken to court.

There is a shortage of housing to cope with the influx of mass immigration  and prices are too high for young couples to buy their first home.

Last year, the water companies lost one trillion litres of water through leaking pipes.  As winter approaches, heating costs will be at an all-time high. England, a land built on coal and iron ore, cannot access the stuff any longer (on instructions from a child called Greta); it has plenty of wind, but not enough to make wind power reliable, and insufficient nuclear power stations – which the Chinese build, a reassuring thought.

The country has outsourced its once-famous industries to child labour in Asia, sold its classic car brands to Germany and, consequently, their manufacture, like most consumer goods, to China.

I spent 30 years reporting wrongdoings in England, then I relocated and watched Malta go down the same track- Revel Barker

Aircraft carriers, for the navy that once ruled the waves, take an actual lifetime to build.

I could go on but it is not a pretty picture, so far, is it?

My main concern, though, is that the Maltese (some of them) think that it is perfectly okay to be crap because other countries, like the one I hail from, are worse in similar respects. I spent about 30 years of my life mainly reporting wrongdoings in England, then I relocated and watched Malta go down the same track.

I have lived here (paying taxes, contributing to the economy but not having a vote) for longer than I have lived anywhere. During that time, I have introduced families to Malta that, on my recommendation, moved here (and are still here); articles I once wrote in English newspapers attracted tourists here. That was then.

This is now. When I write critically of this place it is because I care. I have watched, and still watch in horror, the speed at which it has gone so rapidly downhill. For some readers, for me to comment on this (even though they see it) is near treachery; for others, it means I must be a PN stooge and there are some idiots, with chips on both shoulders, who read my offerings as extolling the great days of Empire (which I barely remember).

But it is your country. Do what the hell you like with it. It is the hell of your own making. The handcart awaits.

Revel Barker is a former Fleet Street reporter and a long-term resident of Gozo.