SCOTTISH COMEDIAN Frankie Boyle has found himself at the centre of a Twitter storm after he claimed he had fireworks ready to go had the UK Prime Minister died of coronavirus.
The stand-up comedian, whose parents are from Donegal in Ireland, has been vocal in the past for his dislike of British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson, but his most recent dig at the politician has drawn more controversy than usual.
Writing on Twitter and making reference to when Johnson was hospitalised with Covid-19, the comedian stated:
"Boris Johnson said contingency plans were made for his death.
"That's true- I'd bought fireworks."
Mr Johnson was taken to ICU in April while hospitalised with the virus, and while he has now made a full recovery and is back at work, he recently told The Sun on Sunday that contingency plans had been made in the event of his death.
Mr Boyle's tweet gained almost 50,000 likes on the social media site, but also drew close to 5,000 replies, with the comment section descending into arguments about whether the joke had gone too far.
"He's about as funny as a boil on my backside," one woman wrote. "How do you wait for someone to die, anyone?"
"Stop picking on Boris," another man wrote. "It's not his fault he's incompetent, dull and fickle."
"Sad state of affair if you feel the need to celebrate the death of a human being," one commenter stated.
One supporter defended Mr Boyle's comments, saying "you're angry at him for saying this, yet you're perfectly fine with Boris' government being responsible for 1000s of deaths?"
Far from step back from the controversy, however, the comedian posted another-- though far less inflammatory-- joke about the Prime Minister, saying:
"One thing I will say for Boris Johnson. As this nation stands on a precipice, there's no one better equipped to take us forward."
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