Comedian Frankie Boyle has penned a stinging riposte to MPs who voted for airstrikes in Syria this week, in a damning assessment of what increased military involvement in the region will do.
The TV personality-turned-political-pundit lambasted parliament's "palpable excitement" over the vote which gave the all-clear to RAF jets to commence a bombing campaign to target the Islamic State group.
"The motion they voted on was a vague list of 'necessary measures' and 'requests for assistance'," he began, "with 'specifically airstrikes' at the very bottom – as if someone had shouted it out of the front door as they were starting the car: 'Oooh! Don’t forget eggs, milk – and airstrikes!!'"
Writing in his weekly Guardian column, Boyle went on to lambast Labour's shadow foreign secretary, Hilary Benn, who made a widely-praised and impassioned plea to his colleagues to back airstrikes - having opposed them in 2013.
The shadow foreign secretary speaking on Wednesday
Pointing to Benn's speech - markedly different to that of his father's debating the First Gulf War - and commenting on the backing it received from hundreds of Conservative MPs, Boyle mused: "I think it’s worth remembering that if you say something and Tories start cheering, then you have said something awful."
He ended by pondering whether the Commons understood or cared about backing a move, which Boyle claimed would make Britons a "target".
"How affected will MPs be by terrorism? In their high-security lives, the only fear they have of an attack on a bus is that the waiters will be late for a drinks reception," he concluded.
The fiery column earned him much praise from fans on social media, many commenting that Boyle had "nailed it" on arguments against bombing Syria.
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Boyle's column this week is hardly the first time he's spoken out on domestic political affairs, though...
