Sant cuts interview short

Labour leader Alfred Sant yesterday cut short an interview with The Times, which was held at the Labour Party's request, and walked out of his office after objecting to the line of questioning.

About 15 minutes into the interview, held at the Labour leader's office at the party headquarters, in Hamrun, Dr Sant objected to the manner in which questions were being asked and said: "Look, I don't want to continue with this interview. It's cancelled."

Dr Sant was being asked at the time why he had proposed a referendum between membership and "partnership" when six weeks ago he had told the same interviewer he would have only considered a referendum appropriate if there was consensus between the parties on the goals of membership.

Dr Sant stood up and had a short exchange with the interviewer - during which time his PRO turned off the interviewer's tape recorder - before walking out of his own office.

At this point, his PRO described the interviewer's conduct as highly unprofessional and passed a series of critical comments as the interviewer was led out of the MLP headquarters.

A full, unedited transcript of the interview up till the stage it was terminated.