The Mandelson affair: Revoking honours is easy, upholding standards is harder

Robert Abela’s office announced that proceedings have started to “review and revoke” Lord Peter Mandelson’s National Order of Merit bestowed on him in 2016. How come?

Mandelson’s alleged crime is that he leaked market-sensitive government information to Jeffrey Epstein while he was a government minister, almost two decades ago.

Mandelson hasn’t been found guilty of any crimes. He’s not even been charged. By Abela’s standards, “there is no proof, only many allegations.”

Usually, in such cases, Abela praises the alleged wrongdoer and expresses his admiration for them. That’s what Abela did in Roderick Galdes’ case.

In a robust defence of the indefensible, the Prime Minister insisted that “the allegations are unproven… There is no proof, only many allegations”.

Instead of accepting Galdes’ resignation and letting investigations take their course, Abela said, “I admired the move that he (Galdes) took”.

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit had raised red flags about a company linked to Galdes’ brother, Malcolm, which had received housing contracts.

When Abela was confronted about whether he was aware of that FIAU report, he claimed he wasn’t and challenged journalists to show it to him, knowing full well that the last time an FIAU report was leaked and published by the press, Abela’s choice for Chief Justice, Consuelo Scerri Herrera, summoned them before her, demanding they reveal their sources.

Abela went on to rubbish The Times of Malta story exposing Galdes’ brother’s links to the company as “a recycled story”.

Abela’s handling of a series of scandals by his former Cabinet – from Justyne Caruana, Rosianne Cutajar, Clayton Bartolo, Clint Camilleri, and now Galdes – highlights the double standards of the Prime Minister.

He kicked off measures to strip Mandelson of his national honour before he was even charged, yet he continued to defend his ministers until it was too late.

Of course, Mandelson deserves to be stripped of every honour bestowed on him. In fact, he’s already been recalled from his post as British Ambassador to the US, woken up in the middle of the night and put on a plane straight back to London. He was forced to resign his seat in the House of Lords.

His own Prime Minister initiated the legislative process to strip him of his peerage. He’s had to resign from the Labour Party. British police have raided his two properties and his car and launched an investigation into Mandelson’s potential offence of misconduct in public office.

That crime doesn’t exist in Malta because Robert Abela refused to implement the recommendations of the Caruana Galizia inquiry. The inquiry board recommended that the crime of abuse of office be introduced into our criminal code. Abela vehemently refused to do so – and it’s not difficult to see why.

Instead of demanding public explanations from Galdes over his sprawling multi-national property empire, Abela praised him for always putting the Party first.

How different to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s response to Mandelson’s alleged infractions. Starmer didn’t wait for a conviction. He didn’t even wait for him to be charged before he condemned Mandelson in parliament for having “betrayed our country, our parliament and my Party”.

Starmer stripped Mandelson of all his official titles and positions and also expelled him from the Party. Starmer handed a dossier to the police to support their investigation into his former US Ambassador and a senior party official.

Starmer told parliament, “I regret appointing him… If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near government”.

Starmer’s office added, “The government stands ready to provide whatever support and assistance the police need”.

The offence of misconduct in public office is no joke – it carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Yet Starmer’s actions against Mandelson were deemed too little too late by the British public and by some in his own Party. Anas Sarwar, Labour Party leader in Scotland, called on Starmer to resign.

Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s closest ally and his chief of staff, was forced out in an attempt to save Starmer’s skin. Tim Allan, Starmer’s communications chief, was also forced to resign.

One Labour MP, Brian Leishman, said about Starmer, “Has his judgement been good enough for that office? I think the answer is a categorical no”.

That same question should be asked of Robert Abela. Despite the drip-drip of revelations about Galdes’s suspicious property empire and the allegations of “hobnobbing with contractors”, Abela continued to protect Galdes. As the revelations became a deluge, Abela had to let Galdes go, but continued to defend him.

Abela’s protection, coupled with police inaction, enabled Galdes to embark on a campaign of intimidation and harassment of anybody who dared state the facts.

In a hostile Facebook post, he called me “the famous Nationalist agent of disinformation”, simply for stating the truth in an article about his multiple properties, which he didn’t deny. He accused me of holding “extreme views that reflect the most radical factions within the PN”.

He claimed that I believe I have a “divine right to lead this country at all costs”.  He claimed that I made “a clear attempt to intimidate” him with my articles. He proceeded to mock me with his Facebook followers. He ended his tirade, “Mr Cassar, keep believing your own lies – in politics, envy and lies will get you nowhere”.

Galdes’ loyal followers got the message. A slew of offences and threats followed in the subsequent 180 comments. I was called a drainage rat, pigs’ vomit, an overflowing cesspit, a carnival clown, a floor cloth, a Nazi SS official, a terrorist agent, cow dung, and a reptile wearing specs.

“Make him swallow his tongue,” George Schembri advised Galdes. “Sue him because he’s now even irritating God,” Joseph Zammit added. “God must have been drunk when he created this man,” came another. “Born a clown and he’ll die a clown,” yet another message said.  Joseph Sultana piled on, saying that I am “dirty and corrupt” and that I have “pigs’ DNA”.

Galdes should know that threats and insults are no defence against the facts. They are a confirmation of his utter unfitness for office. And the Prime Minister should learn a lesson from his fellow Labour leader, Starmer, on how to handle the Mandelsons and Galdeses of this world.