“I don’t want to make this issue public because my interest was to resolve it, not to make political capital out of it,” he said. 

Grech also hailed Falzon’s “courage” for publicly representing the PL in the aftermath of the party’s defeat at the 2008 election.

“Others hid away while Falzon was the person we saw in public during the Labour Party’s toughest times,” Grech said, drawing parallels with how he himself had represented the PN on the first Xarabank episode after its defeat at the 2017 election. 

“You will tell me that’s why I mentioned Michael Falzon… no it’s not, but I admire him for what he did and I did the same.”

The second PL politician he named was Oliver Scicluna, the MP who was co-opted to Parliament last year and is contesting the upcoming election.

“I don’t know him personally but I’ve seen him in Parliament and I admire how he still maintains a sense of respect when speaking, talking about issues and not people.”

Again, Grech drew parallels with himself, insisting that he tries not to label people he criticises as much as possible.

“I will tell you that you’re lying but I won’t call you a liar, and that makes a big difference in my eyes.”

Jon Mallia’s interview with Grech is currently only available to paid-up subscribers of his podcast but will soon be made available to the general public.

Do you agree with Bernard Grech’s choice?