Temporary global government should tackle COVID-19, former UK prime minister says. His idea is smacked down hard.

Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown pleaded with world leaders to form a temporary global government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, The Guardian reported.

What are the details?

Brown — who's left-of-center politically and was the head of the U.K.'s Labour Party — was a central figure behind international efforts to combat the Great Recession a decade ago, the paper said, adding that he believes a coalition of leaders, including those from the health field and international organizations, should have executive powers to coordinate the response.

"This is not something that can be dealt with in one country," Brown said, The Guardian noted. "There has to be a coordinated global response."

He also said his proposed global task force would fight the crisis in two ways: By finding a vaccine and organizing production, purchasing, and preventing profiteering, the paper noted.

More from The Guardian:

Many countries have announced economic packages in the past two weeks but Brown said a task force could: make sure the efforts of central banks were coordinated; take steps to prevent the record flight of capital from emerging market economies; and agree a joint approach to the use of government spending to boost growth.

Brown said there had been resistance in 2008 to using the G20 as a vehicle for tackling the financial crisis, but that it should be clear to world leaders that there was no possibility of a go-it-alone approach working.

"We need some sort of working executive," Brown added to the paper. "If I were doing it again, I would make the G20 a broader organization because in the current circumstances you need to listen to the countries that are most affected, the countries that are making a difference and countries where there is the potential for a massive number of people to be affected — such as those in Africa."

What was the reaction?

As you might expect, Brown's idea of a temporary global government was met with just a bit of resistance, as evidenced by Twitter users' comments, including those of former UK Independence Party leader Gerard Batten:

Others called Brown's idea "a Trojan Horse for much worse" and said he "wants to enslave humanity."

"If Gordon Brown can call for a global government to tackle the COVID-19 then it's time to wake up and realize the New World Order is being put in place in our own very eyes," another user said.

Brexit leader Nigel Farage was equally blunt: