Conservative Peer Lord Bell came under fire today after telling a less-than-amusing “joke” about the fatal Germanwings crash.
Lord Bell was discussing the use of humour during the General Election campaign on BBC Radio 5 Live, when he told host Adrian Chiles: "Most humour is at the expense of somebody.”
He continued: "There's a terrible knock knock joke going around at the moment, which I'm not going to do on air because I'll probably get shot."
Lord Bell made the 'joke' on Radio 5 Live
Of course, the former spin doctor then proceeded to tell the joke.
Laughing, he said: "Knock Knock. Who's there? The pilot."
Oh dear.
A horrified Chiles responded, saying: "But that's an awful one, you wouldn't get into anything like that in political advertising."
Later in the programme Chiles added: “Obviously apologies to any listeners who were offended by Lord Tim Bell’s ‘joke’ – in inverted commas – earlier.”
SEE ALSO:
Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps on 24 March.
It is believed that the plane’s co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, intentionally caused the crash by locking the pilot out of the cockpit and setting the aircraft on a sustained descent.
All 144 passengers and six crew members died in the tragedy.
All those on board the Germanwings flight died
Many on Twitter blasted Bell for his “humor”.
Andrew Feinstein tweeted: “Thatcher's odious PR man & now Tory peer's tasteless Germanwings 'joke': A lack of class & principles is permanent!
User @bitesizebits said: “So much for being a PR guru…”
Michael Curry added: “Of course someone who worked for Margaret Thatcher would make such a "joke" of a deadly tragedy.”