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		The Second Siege of Malta From the May 2002 edition of "The European Journal", the journal of The European Foundation. Malta, the George Cross island in the Mediterranean that stood bravely against the might of Germany sixty years ago, is a beautiful place today. An idyllic location, just about level with Tunisia, it has sun and sand combined with amazing history, heritage and architecture. You can wander round delightful pedestrian-only hill-top villages. The Templars' Cathedral in Valletta is a riot of colour and decoration, while the view of the Grand Harbour must be one of the most spectacular in the world. In the sixteenth century the famous Siege took place, with the Turks attacking the Knights Templar, so of course there is a Siege Experience Theme Park for visitors to see what it was like. Malta is on the list of EU applicant countries, and like the other applicant states it is being carpet-bombed with EU propaganda, which reaches into every cranny of national life - education, government, politics, business, the media. Standing up against this onslaught is the brave but underfunded 'No' campaign - the Campaign for National Independence (CNI). Indeed their plucky struggle against the might of the Brussels barrage calls to mind the heroism and loyalty of the people of Malta sixty years ago when they held out against the hail of high explosive from the Luftwaffe, probably the most intensive bombing campaign in the history of aerial warfare. In March, I was invited by the CNI to go to Malta on a flying visit - literally. I was in the country just over 24 hours. In that time I recorded two television programmes and an extended radio interview, and dined with the Times of Malta, the island's leading newspaper. I also addressed a CNI rally at the Valletta Chamber of Commerce, as well as a CNI Committee Meeting. As a politician I have to be especially careful to avoid ethnic or national jokes, so I was a bit taken aback when a Maltese said to me: "How do you make a Maltese Cross?' But confident that I knew the answer to this old schoolboy chestnut, I replied, "Stamp on his toe!" "No", replied my questioner lugubriously, "Send him a tax return!" Former Labour Prime Minister of Malta, Dr Bonnici, is a leading member of CNI, and attended several of the events. The Maltese political situation presents a problem for a visiting centre-right parliamentarian. Malta is far more polarised between two parties than the UK, and politics reaches every corner of national life. On the surface, we seem to have a classic left/right split between Labour and Nationalists. But scratch the surface and you find that the differences between them are more reminiscent of a nineteenth-century religious versus secularist face-off than a modern left/right debate. And the situation recalls earlier times in another way too. The centre-right Nationalist Party supports EU membership, while the Labour party opposes it. This is more like the Britain of the sixties than the Britain of today. I have taken some stick from colleagues for "supporting the Labour Party" and indeed my long radio interview took place in the HQ of the Malta Labour Party. But I make no apology. I believe that the issue of democracy and self-determination takes precedence over any left/right debate and I should be happy to share a platform with Tony Benn, Austin Mitchell or Frank Field to argue the case for independence, whether for Britain or Malta. When we have finished that debate and re-established our right to decide, then we can get down to the regular left/right ding-dong. Indeed the CNI have been rather clever in inviting a range of parliamentarians from both left and right, and from several countries, to show that this issue of EU membership is not simply a sterile party debate. Conservatives have a special role to play in reaching out beyond CNI's Labour heartland and telling Nationalist Party supporters that we have a message for them too. As I said to audiences repeatedly, I was not there to tell them how to vote. That is their own sovereign decision. I was there to share with them Britain's experience as a member of the EU, and my own experience as a Euro-MP. But I pointed out to them that if they exercised their right to join the EU, it would be the last sovereign decision they would ever make. Just to underline my point, the local papers carried the news that Malta had just the previous day failed to obtain a derogation on fisheries. If they join the EU, other member-states will be able to fish right up to the shoreline. Opinion polls in Malta's small community are notoriously unreliable, but opinion seems to be about evenly split between 'Yesses' and 'Noes'. There is everything to play for. On the flight home, I found myself reading The Malta Times again. It carried an article by a columnist called Salvu Felice Pace, urging a 'Yes' vote. The line of argument was interesting. Either Malta could follow its manifest destiny and join the EU, or it would sink into an African/ Islamic nexus, and be lost to the advanced world of the West, its European heritage forgotten. It just didn't seem to cross Mr Pace's mind that Malta might have a future as an independent, self-governing nation, that the Maltese people might manage their own affairs. He called for Malta to be a bridge between the EU and North Africa, yet his approach to bridge-building seemed to be to camp permanently on the north side of the water. Within a few hours of arriving home, my letter to the editor of the Malta Times was on its way! If I were a Maltese, I should look at the examples of Norway, Switzerland and now Mexico, who have bilateral free-trade deals with the EU. They get most of the benefits of membership with few of the onerous costs, regulations and bureaucracy. Returning to Heathrow, I found that Malta is not the only target of EU propaganda. In Terminal 4 I saw big display ads placed by the European Central Bank (ECB), with the slogan "The Euro: Our Currency". Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the euro itself, this is plain lie. The euro is not our currency. I have already written to the Advertising Standards Authority, the British Airports Authority and the ECB, demanding that these ads be removed. Let's hope that both we and Malta manage to keep our currencies. If you want a week in the sun, why not give Malta a try. And if you'd like to help Malta's 'No' campaign, please send your donation, however small, to John Harrison, FCA, Treasurer, Malta Independence Appeal, Old Stable Yard, Caesar Street, Chester Green, Derby DE1 3RU. Cheques should be payable to the Malta Independence Appeal.