U2 singer and vocal anti-Brexiteer Paul ‘Bono’ Hewson has suffered a “complete loss of voice” at the beginning of a tour in which he planned to wave the EU flag as a “radical act”, causing much amusement on social media.

Ahead of the tour, the 58-year-old multi-millionaire had written: “I’m told a rock band is at its best when it’s a little transgressive: when it pushes the bounds of so-called good taste, when it shocks, when it surprises. Well, U2 is kicking off its tour in Berlin this week, and we’ve just had one of our more provocative ideas: during the show we’re going to wave a big, bright, blue EU flag.”

Bono’s claim that “waving an EU flag” has become “a radical act” prompted much derision from Brexit supporters, with commentators including as YouTube polemicist and recent UKIP recruit Paul Joseph Watson suggesting it was ridiculous to characterise support for a supranational bureaucracy led by unelected political appointees and backed by global banking corporations as in any way “transgressive”.

There is a God. https://t.co/ipFFAKpghm — Paul Embery (@PaulEmbery) September 2, 2018

News that the singer was literally struck dumb on stage in Berlin right at the start of his tour has therefore caused much amusement, with Labour Leave activist and trade union leader Paul Embery quipping: “There is a God.”

“We don’t know what has happened and we’re taking medical advice,” read a statement signed by band members Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, and David ‘The Edge’ Evans.

“Bono was in great form and great voice prior to the show and we were all looking forward to the second night in Berlin, but after a few songs, he suffered a complete loss of voice,” the statement added.

Speculating on what might have caused his malady, Bono was quoted as saying: “I think it’s the smoke. I can promise you I have not been talking, but this is like a giant cigar — I’ve lost my voice and I don’t know what to do.”

Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery