The man simply does not learn.

When the Libyan uprising took place, well before the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, Joseph Muscat rejoiced because much Libyan business could be brought to Malta. For this he was roundly attacked and he changed his tack.

Now, at a distance of so many years, he has repeated his mistake: Brexit, which he condemned, could be a means to get British companies over to Malta and let them operate from here.

To speak in these terms is to seriously misunderstand the whole enormity of the British vote  and its consequences not just for the British people but also for the EU at large.

Europe, the EU and Britain itself are still trying to understand what last week's vote means. For the purposes of this leader, we assume that the Brexit vote is irrevocable and will not, and can not, be reversed.

There are many other aspects one can deal about, but for the purposes of this leader we want to focus for now on the consequences of Brexit on Malta's financial services sector.

Losing the EU passporting rights will undoubtedly be one of the major consequences of Brexit. More, the UK will end up being regulated by bodies on which it is not represented. With financial services accounting for around 7% of the UK GDP, and employing so many thousands of workers, it will depend on the tricky, delicate, negotiations between Britain and the EU to establish what kind of relations will the UK, especially the City, have with the EU in the future.

The Financial Times on Monday reported that global stock markets have lost a record $3 trillion in the past two trading days alone, after a sharp sell-off in equities around the world in response to the UK referendum vote to leave the EU.

Observers said, The Financial Times reported, that the falls on the first day after the vote on Friday were tied mainly to the short-term unwinding of trading positions related to expectations of a Remain vote ahead of the shock result. The further selling on Monday was more about long-term revaluing of assets in anticipation of the potential fallout from the decision.

In today's issue we report that Fitch has said that Malta, along with Belgium, The Netherlands, Cyprus and Luxembourg stand to lose most as a result of Brexit.

On the other hand, according to Dick Frase of Dechert, quoted on Monday's Financial Times, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta are likely to be more user-friendly (when it comes to global banks who decide to quit the City).

It is very clear that, with London out of the picture, financial services in the EU will be dominated by the French and the Germans  who may, or rather most probably, will decide to impose greater controls, more centralization and more backstops to reinforce the euro system and the banking system in view of possible future crises.

So it is not clear yet that Brexit may mean a future boom for Malta, as the ever-optimist prime minister seems to be saying.

Certainly, we would sleep better had not a senior minister been caught out owning a company in Panama, along with the prime minister's chief of staff; if we did not have this issue about the new Governor of the Central Bank after the heir presumptuous was forced by revelations on his private life to resign; and if we did not have a senior minister firing salvo after salvo against the head of the financial services authority. Our financial services have never been in such a shambles before and now they have to get their act together at a crucial time.

All the above, of course, by no means exhausts the subject of what happens after Brexit. There are the reverberating consequences of Brexit on British political life, the impact of Brexit on other countries (Italy is already being mentioned as the next domino to fall, after the October referendum), what happens if Marine Le Pen gets elected as French president next year, etc. And meanwhile there is a common currency that was put together by politicians and which has serious flaws and needs huge fixes. And all the while people in Europe are still suffering from unemployment, low growth and lack of opportunities for the future.

At the very least, the British people who live in Malta would welcome a declaration by the government they will always be welcome in Malta and that Malta will never forget the close links with Britain over the centuries.