Climate change denial is a “crime against humanity” which should be punishable by trial in a world court says Monty Python’s Eric Idle.

But it’s OK. Even though he does apparently believe that the punishment for such “stupidity and ignorance” should be death, Idle generously insists that these deniers should be “put down” humanely.

This, I am sure we can all agree, is very big of him.

What’s sadder, though, perhaps is that from now on every time we watch the final scene of Monty Python’s Life of Brian and the bit where Eric Idle says from the cross “Cheer up Brian…”, before launching into “Always Look On the Bright Side Of Life”, we won’t be able to laugh any more.

All we’ll be able to think of is a washed-up ex-comedy hero, formerly the darling of the anti-Establishment but now just another rent-a-stupid-opinion celeb, regurgitating on his Twitter feed the half-baked, ill-informed, junk-science green propaganda he has apparently picked up from falling under the spell of another Brian. The crap Brian. Aka the pouty-lipped, perma-smiley, supremely overrated, celebrity pop star physicist Brian Cox.

Never have heroes. They’ll always let you down in the end.