Doris Day inspires Bernard Grech
On February 28, Bernard Grech announced that “a PN government would reduce income tax for businesses from 35 per cent to 15 per cent on the first €500,000 profit”.
At that very moment, my mind raced back decades. I remembered Doris Day singing the song Anything you can do, I can do better from the film Annie Get Your Gun.
Why did I remember that song? Because, barely three days before, the prime minister had announced another PL pledge: to reduce corporate tax from 35 per cent to 25 per cent on the first €250,000 profit. What a coincidence. I thought: “Grech must have remembered Doris Day’s song.”
To confirm the utter chaos in Grech and his campaign strategists are in, Grech added that the PL is “copying what the PN promises” when the PN’s promises are just an uncosted ‘wish list’.
Meanwhile, Labour’s pledges are planned and costed. So how can Labour copy uncosted promises when its pledges are planned and costed?
Both the prime minister and the deputy prime minister have revealed how the PN’s manifesto has already been changed four times since the start of the official election campaign. Hence, I repeat what I said in a recent letter: While with Labour you know where you stand, with the PN only God knows.
So don’t blame me if when I see Grech he reminds me of Doris Day. I expect more ‘Doris Day promises’ from this wannabe politician.
Eddy Privitera – Mosta
A sun’s halo
The photograph (right) shows a halo around the sun. This event occurs when sunlight passes through ice crystals present in a thin layer of cloud cover. It was detected on March 11.
The picture was taken by randomly aiming the camera at the sun and projecting its image through the viewfinder.
This is because it is dangerous to look at the sun and even more so through any optical instrument, since irreversible eye damage could result.
Emanuel Aquilina – Birżebbuġa
Citizenship for sale
Of course, I concur with Eddie Bosano-Andrews (March 11) and his comments with regard to the immorally cheap price that is placed on Maltese citizenship by the government. Admittedly, this boosts the Maltese coffers by a considerable amount but the result is that most oligarchs, bent businessmen, money launderers and oppressors are now Maltese citizens or hold Maltese passports. Regrettably, that fits in with the corruption reputation that is banded about on the island and elsewhere.
Bosano-Andrews’s genealogical history is very interesting and worthy of the high esteem he holds it in. Most Maltese can boast the same and it would be just as boring and uninteresting if all had to recount it.
Being, rather dense when it comes to history, I was more interested in how his EU citizenship was taken away from him by a “vote that he was unable to be part of”. County Louth is part of the Irish Republic, which is part of the EU and, if he had not relinquished his Maltese citizenship, he would be an EU citizen anyway. If he had never held Maltese citizenship and was born in County Louth, he would still be an EU citizen by virtue of his country of birth (IR, I assume).
He’s either a Maltese citizen or an Irish citizen. I can’t understand the ‘vote’ bit; but I’m sure he’ll correct me. It’s just he didn’t mention what ‘vote’ he’s referring to. Who did he understand the oath of allegiance was to: Malta or the EU?
I’ve lived in the UK for 52 years. I’m now both British and Maltese and hold both passports (as do my children and grandchildren); so I’m both a Maltese citizen and a UK citizen. I’m proud to be both British and Maltese. Being a citizen of the EU is incidental and not something I’m proud of. I was at Floriana waving the flag in 1964 when Malta became independent – I was 17 and bursting with pride. I was very sad when it was lost to the EU 40 years later in 2004.
Paul Brincau – Uxbridge, UK
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