A British MP has heaped scorn on Joseph Muscat, saying the Maltese Prime Minister is "anxious to scoop for his tiny little island".

Tory MP for Harwich and North Essex Bernard Jenkin made the derisory comments while speaking on BBC radio this morning, telling a radio host that Dr Muscat was out to cash in "on some of the spoils that he believes will fall out of Brexit".

The insult immediately began pinging across Twitter, with many commentators noting that insulting the sitting president of the Council of the European Union might not be the best way to begin Brexit negotiations. 

Others simply noted the irony of an isolationist-minded politician British politician deriding another for coming from "a tiny little island". 

Dr Muscat has repeatedly made it clear that any eventual deal the UK negotiates to leave the EU must be inferior to full membership. 

“We can see no situation where what they get is better than what they have,” the Prime Minister said as recently as last Wednesday. 

Mr Jenkin has been an MP since 1992 and has previously served as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. His euroscepticism is deep-rooted, having been one of roughly two dozen MPs to vote against his own party in opposition to the EU's Maastricht Treaty back in the 1990s.