At the end, the mess called Clayton was too much to leave untackled.

The boy-minister left in charge of the sweet shop (and his wife) simply had to go.

Those who appointed him always knew what he was doing but covered up for him and defended him till the very last (which does not say much about their ability) and they must now clean up the pieces he left behind.

It is right now that even these pay the price for this mess.

The country has been given the impression that a mumbled sort of apology, a light tap on the wrist and a ridiculously small amount of money could be enough to appear as compensation. End of story? No way.

What I write today is tentative and not comprehensive. And comes with a football bias.

Someone must go through the deal with Man Utd with a fine comb and explain what is Malta's gain in this deal. And if necessary wind it down.

Then there's Comino where Clayton dragged his feet on a comprehensive review and allowed the ruin, through overwhelming crowds and greed, of one of Malta's best natural beauty spots.

And there's supervision, or lack of it, of the film commissioner with huge millions spent on self-promotion while Malta's small film industry is starved of funds.

The prime minister has now split up Clayton's ministry and handed the bits to various ministers but he must ensure that the bits are cleaned of Clayton's happy go lucky method of doing things. Otherwise they will remain toxic.

In particular, even before Clayton the MTA was long overdue an overhaul.

Why a boy-minister was allowed to make such a mess should be asked of those who put him there.

We lived in Mellieha for a number of years where Clayton was deputy mayor and he was an average local politician. In hindsight, he never got better.

We had a problem in our street but neither Clayton nor his counterpart seemed able to do anything about it.

At the end, people came together and made representations to Mepa (helped by Carmel Cacopardo and separately Deborah Schembri) and the problem was solved.

To give him his due, when a slab on the corner of the pavement was broken (probably by some truck) and there was danger of someone twisting an ankle, Clayton, once this was brought to his attention, gave the matter immediate attention and the slab was replaced within hours.

Now he and his wife have become the talk of the town and it will not be a paltry cheque or two to wipe away the pain.

For one and all this sorry story carries lessons that must be learnt.

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