Thousands of people have signed a ludicrous petition calling for Sir David Attenborough to be renamed Sir Boaty McBoatface “in the interest of democracy”.
The online campaign, started by a man called Gary Jackson, came after the Standard revealed how a new £200 million research ship would be named after the veteran broadcaster to mark his 90th birthday.
This was despite a previous public vote which saw Boaty McBoatface emerge as the popular choice, a name that will now live on as a new submarine.
But the news sparked gnashing of teeth from disgruntled Twitter users who are now calling for Sir David to change his name in solidarity with the cause.
Mr Jackson, who is petitioning the BBC, wrote: “The public want the UK's new polar research ship to be named Boaty McBoatface, but it will instead will be named after the revered naturalist and thoroughly lovely bloke Sir David Attenborough.
“Wouldn’t it be great if Sir David changed his name to Sir Boaty McBoatface in the interest of democracy and humour?”
So far, more than 2,000 have signed the petition, including Debbie Vesa who commented: “It’s a lovely name, for a wonderful man.”
“Do it for Boaty,” said Emma Llewellyn.