IT is a fact of life that stand-up comedy, often by its very nature, sails close to the wind in its content and style. Some of our more cerebral comedians are able to present their material in a way that can be both funny and thought-provoking whilst offering an alternative view of social and political issues.

Jimmy Carr, in my view, is not one of these. A man who continually tops the “most offensive comedian” polls with insulting and tasteless quips about people with Down Syndrome and amputee veterans has now controversially turned his attention to the Holocaust.

READ MORE: Jimmy Carr faces backlash over ‘disturbing’ Holocaust joke about Travellers on Netflix

In a Netflix special titled His Dark Material, Carr describes the death of thousands of gypsy travellers by the Nazis as a “positive”, to the delight of his audience. It is difficult to understand just how low this comedian can sink to in order to get some cheap laughs, but even more perplexing to consider the distasteful and callous audience reaction. Their lack of empathy, historical perception and genuine human decency is bewildering and exasperating in equal measure.

Supporters of the comedian have waxed lyrical about freedom of speech and Carr’s deliberately provocative material without exploring the glaringly obvious questions surrounding his lack of compassion, humanity or responsibility for the subject at hand. His portrayal of gypsy travellers as alien pariahs is callous, bigoted and thoughtless. Like his fellow comedian, the Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, Carr’s dismissal of those in the travelling community as worthy of his ill-advised prejudice and discrimination is utterly unacceptable and he is deserving of the avalanche of criticism he has received from the media, interested groups and individuals.

Jimmy Carr’s pathetic attempt at humour in this instance is a gift to those on the far right of the political spectrum, who rejoice in normalising extremist racism and attack liberal views as woke and supine. In more than one European country his comments would be seen as a hate crime and dealt with as such. He must henceforth apologise for his poor judgement and taste, even if his amoral core support do not approve.

Owen Kelly
Stirling

THE 82% increase in electricity standing charge is obscene and will take the annual charge to £165.50 per annum before 1kWh of power is used.

This increase is unrelated to the huge hike in the wholesale price of gas and will disproportionately hit low electricity users the most.

Consumers like pensioners and low-income households, who are unlikely to use dishwashers, tumble dryers and electronics and therefore unlikely to be able cut their usage to compensate, will suffer the most.

READ MORE: Richard Walker: Westminster has been asleep at the wheel on the UK energy crisis

Boris Johnson stated before Brexit that Britain would be able to ditch VAT on gas and electricity bills, as the EU regulations did not permit this.

What better time to scrap VAT on energy than NOW, when we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis with energy, food, interest rates and National Insurance contributions all increasing to unparalleled levels?

Instead, the Tories “kindly” decided to lend us £200 towards the average £700 bill increase on the basis that we pay it back over the following five years.

However, there are no guarantees that these eyewatering prices will reduce and that hard pressed families will be able to afford the extra repayments.

Scotland is rich in oil, gas and wind power however we are hit with one of the highest energy tariffs in the UK.

If only “Scotland will not be dragged out of the EU against our will” meant what it said on the tin and we had achieved independence.

Iris Graham
Edinburgh

HIGHER National Insurance, higher tax, rising cost of food, massive rise in fuel bills, cut of the £20 Universal Credit uplift, abolishing the triple lock for pensioners but a money injection to Tory-voting constituencies – levelling up? Don’t make me laugh. I would love to write my response, but know that it would mean my letter wasn’t printed.

What this government has done is force people back at least a hundred years to Victorian poverty. Little to no food of any nutritional value, impacting on the health of the populace – already people having to move as they cannot pay their mortgages yet struggling to find an affordable rented property. But at the top of the chain – corruption, lining of pockets, old boy’s network, a lying and uncaring Prime Minister so out of touch with what he is doing to the country that he might as well be on Mars.

READ MORE: Boris Johnson accused of using 'Trump playbook' over tanks comment

February 2022 – already only 10 months until 2023. Where is the information to persuade and educate the people of Scotland that we simply cannot stay tied to Westminster? They took our oil, now they want our wind and wave power and even our water. Why won’t they let us go? We are too rich an asset to plunder.

Scotland is a sovereign country – we are a sovereign people and need now to stand and be counted that our independence is our right, not to be asked or begged for.

Frieda Burns
Stonehaven