In January 1959, The Times published the following:

“Malta cannot live on its own ... the island could pay for only one-fifth of her food and essential imports; well over one-quarter of the present labour force would be out of work...”

THREAD

“.. and the economy would collapse without British Treasury subventions.

Talk of full independence for Malta is therefore hopelessly impractical.”

Too small, too poor!

Where have we heard that before?

Malta, with a population of around 400,000 (similar to Cardiff) held an independence referendum in May 1964, and the result was 54.5 per cent for and 45.5 per cent against.

Since independence, Malta’s economy has grown. It joined the EU in 2004 and adopted the euro in 2008.

By 2015, Malta was classified by the IMF as “an advanced economy”, while the World Bank quoted it as “a high income country”: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2016/cr1620.pdf

Its unemployment rate stood at 5.4 per cent (compared to a UK rate of 5.6 per cent in August the same year).

So, when we hear the unionists cry that Wales is too small and too poor to be independent, just remember Malta.

https://www.yes.cymru/join