Surely, the irony has not escaped the attention of serious observers that the first task that Joseph Muscat had to tackle as Malta’s Prime Minister in an EU summit was to approve a bailout of billions of euros to Cyprus.

He had criticised Lawrence Gonzi for the economic policy he was following, recommending instead that of Cyprus.

Let this be a shot across the bows, a warning to Malta’s new Prime Minister, that the realities of running a government in this turbulent world do not require a facile negative attitude to anything that a previous administration under a different political party has promoted.