Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Monday that the UK referendum result for a Brexit should be respected and the people who voted out the UK from the EU should not be judged or talked down.

Dr Muscat said that the UK should be given some breathing space to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. He said that what is important for our country is what emerges from the negotiations.

Dr Muscat was addressing social partners during a MEUSAC Core Group Meeting which dealt with the outcome of the UK referendum, prior to the European Council.

"What we need to look at is the reasons which led to Brexit because voters vote according to what they feel affects their daily lives," he continued.

Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli described the meeting as an opportunity for social partners to give their take on the outcome of the referendum and to ask any questions they may have to the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister said the Maltese Government had been preparing for a Brexit scenario and conducted several studies in the run-up to the referendum to address issues in certain sectors which may be affected as a result, adding that the Maltese government hit the ground running.

He said however that while the UK should be given a fair deal, it should be made clear that not being a member of the EU is a disadvantage.

MEUSAC Head Dr Vanni Xuereb chaired the meeting.

Photograph: DOI/Omar Camilleri

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