The electorate has now learned that the level of vitriol in the Chief Minister’s tone is inversely proportional to his confidence. The more nervous and insecure he is, the more he lashes out with insults and jibes.

In this case, he has characterised his political opponents as ‘hyenas’ for saying what everyone else in Gibraltar is thinking. That they now have dead wood in their ranks - a former minister who, just a few months after being elected, will spend the next three and a half years leeching on a £36,000 salary for doing absolutely nothing.

For a Chief Minister who proclaimed to usher in a ‘new age of responsibility’, not just after the general election, but also at the height of the Covid pandemic, he sets an incredibly poor example allowing his ministerial team to be whittled down and shovelling an extra load on the shoulders of the remaining ministers at one of the most critical times in Gibraltar’s history.

Additionally, and after the recent controversies (minister Bossano last week illustrating how his vision is in direct conflict with that of the Chief Minister), and the reaction towards Opposition doing its job regarding this shocking resignation, it shows the Government is weaker than ever.

Fabian Picardo’s attempt to dredge up history is one of the thinnest and poorest smokescreens he’s ever come up with.

Party leader Marlene Hassan Nahon said: “I don’t need to justify my own past decisions. The electorate has already done that for me. It clearly thought my performance post-GSD was value for money.”

We doubt very much that the people of Gibraltar will consider Gilbert Licudi’s next three years to be the value for money that people deserve and voted for.