Sant invites EU ambassador to 'shut up'

Labour leader Alfred Sant yesterday said he had been surprised to hear EU ambassador to Malta Ronald Gallimore say he had felt the need to call a news conference to correct imprecise information about the EU.

"Mr Gallimore, would it not be much better to shut up?" Dr Sant said during a "rally for the family" at the MLP headquarters in Hamrun.

It is not the first time that Dr Sant has used undiplomatic language when referring to high-ranking EU officials. He had once told EU enlargement commissioner Günter Verheugen to bite his tongue, and had compared former European Parliament president Nicole Fontaine to the Taliban.

Speaking to a packed auditorium yesterday, Dr Sant said he had replied to the statement issued by Bank of Valletta and HSBC, but the banks had not yet replied to his subsequent comments.

In reaction to Dr Sant's appeal to bank workers to consider how EU membership would affect their future, the two banks had issued a statement saying the sector was well-positioned to meet the opportunities and challenges of membership.

Dr Sant had then called on BOV and HSBC to issue a written guarantee that they would retain the whole of their work forces and not close any branches if Malta joined the Union.

Yesterday, BOV issued a circular to employees saying the bank had no plans to lay off workers or remove services.

Dr Sant yesterday repeated the names of all the companies he has mentioned at mass meetings in the past weeks, and added a few more.

The new ones included the Salvu Grima Group, Maltacom, Public Broadcasting Services Ltd, companies involved in the registration of ships and construction companies.

He called on their workers to do their homework and see how their job prospects would be hit by membership.

He also said the government would come under heavy pressure to undertake additional expense to bring its departments in line with EU regulations, including the passport office in view of the Shengen agreement.

"Government income would probably slide and as a result the government would either cut social services or reduce its staff complement."

Dr Sant said that "capitalists and their consultants" would be the beneficiaries of EU membership, and not workers. If commercial firms were to pass through a turbulent phase following EU membership, they would not fold but their first move would be to offload workers.