Watching the Carr Crash

[DanaC]

I've mentioned this already in the funny vids thread, but actually, I think it deserves its own thread.

Jimmy Carr is a British stand-up comedian and tv presenter. Very successful. Widely regarded as the hardest working comic in Britain, he flies very close to the wind in his comedy, often the centre of controversy as one or another group is offended by his jokes.

I really like him, he's one of my favourite comedians. More to the point I admire him because he is very, very clever. Some of his jokes I don't like. Some seem to come from an unpleasant place (the jokes about gypsies and the 'ironic' return to misogynistic jokes about rape and violence), but then, everyone can find something to be offended about in a Jimmy Carr set, that's kind of the point. Or at least one of them. It's almost all wordplay jokes. Clever stuff. And he plays a ery definite persona on stage.

So, that's the lead in. What's been happening, and what is the crash in the title, I hear you ask? Well...

Last week an investigative piece in a newspaper outed him as one of the 1000 people in the country participating in the K2 scheme.

K2 is a scheme which utilises the kakfaesque tax laws of the country to essentially opt out of income tax. Instead of paying upwards of 30% tax on thgeir earnings, the very wealthy can use a scheme like K2 and reduce that tax burden to...1% yes. 1%.

Carr's name splashed all over the papers and the tv news. He is one of the comedians of the moment. He's making millions. And, somewhat unfortunately, as part of the team on the 10 O'clock Live satirical news show, he did a sketch last year lampooning the appalling tax avoidance being engaged in by some large companies.

So, suddenly there's a massive cloud of hypocrisy poised to open up and drop its load all over Carr....

At this point, worth stressing that the scheme is entirely legal and that Carr's involvement in it had been fully disclosed to HMRC from the start.

Surprised by a heckler at his concert the night the stiry broke, Carr was initially unrepentant. 'I pay what I have to. Not a penny more.'

Next thing though, the Prime Minister and several cabinet members decide to wade into the matter and publicly criticise Carr. This is from last Wednesday:

In an interview with ITV News, the prime minister was asked about Carr's arrangement.

He replied: "Some of these schemes we have seen are quite frankly morally wrong.

"People work hard, they pay their taxes, they save up to go to one of his shows. They buy the tickets. He is taking the money from those tickets and he, as far as I can see, is putting all of that into some very dodgy tax avoiding schemes."

The Liberal Democrats' deputy leader, Simon Hughes, said it was "completely unacceptable" for stars to avoid paying proper rates of tax.

In his Budget speech in March, Chancellor George Osborne described illegal tax evasion and legal but aggressive tax avoidance as "morally repugnant".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18521468

Now, having labelled legal but aggressive tax avoidance as 'morally repugnant' there are all sorts of direction this story could take.

One might be tempted to suggest that, having himself benefitted from the offshore tax havens where his father kept his family's wealth, the PM might be cautious. And given that 1000 of the country's wealthiest individuals are involved in that one scheme alone, and who knows how many in the other schemes, the Conservative Party would be forgiven for not really wanting to cast aspersions so liberally onto some of their most potent supporters.

By the end of that day, people were suggesting the PM had 'shot from the hip' and would have been well-advised to stay the fuck out of individual cases and maybe decline to comment on such when asked.

And by the next day, lots of people were hoping the PM would comment on a few other tax avoiders who had been named in the next slew of news. Would he for example comment on Gary Barlow, newly an OBE, wrote a song for the Queen and ... supporter of the Conservative Party?

As this was brewing, Carr decided to bite the bullet and offer a full apology:

The comedian Jimmy Carr has issued an apology for his "terrible error of judgment" in using a tax avoidance scheme.

Carr confirmed that he had changed his tax affairs after the scheme was revealed this week. On Wednesday the prime minister had labelled the situation "morally wrong".

In a series of Tweets the comedian said: "I appreciate as a comedian, people will expect me to 'make light' of this situation, but I'm not going to in this statement as this is obviously a serious matter.

"I met with a financial advisor and he said to me: "Do you want to pay less tax? It's totally legal." I said: "Yes."

"I now realise I've made a terrible error of judgment.

"Although I've been advised the K2 tax scheme is entirely legal, and has been fully disclosed to HMRC [Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs], I'm no longer involved in it and will in future conduct my financial affairs much more responsibly. Apologies to everyone. Jimmy Carr."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/20...?newsfeed=true


Earlier in the day ( I think it was same day, but might have been evening before) the PM was asked about Take That's Gary Barlow and declined to comment:

Prime Minister David Cameron has refused to criticise Gary Barlow over alleged use of a tax avoidance scheme.

Labour is calling on the Take That star to hand back the OBE he received in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

He is facing questions about money he is alleged to have invested in a tax scheme - Icebreaker 2 - being investigated by HM Revenue and Customs.

There is no suggestion the scheme is illegal but it could still be closed down by HMRC at a tax tribunal.

Mr Cameron said he was not going to give a "running commentary" on people's tax affairs - but he had made an exception for comedian Jimmy Carr because "it was a particularly egregious example of an avoidance scheme that seemed to me to be wrong".

Now here's the famous switcheroo. Carr, having been pilloried in the press and on social media sites for having taken part in a legal scheme offered a full apology and then recorded that same day his regular weekly panel show. He was ribbed mercilessly by the other comedians and took it well. At no point did he try and shift blame anywhere.

'In my defence....nah, I got nothing'

'I don't want to appear like I'm passing the buck, but, you know who I blame for this whole mess? Me. It was entirely my own fault.'

At one point the two women on the panel commented on liking the new vulnerable Jimmy, and suggested he looked like he neded a hug. His response?

'No...no there should be no sympathy. I appreciate it, but there should be no sympathy for me. It was entirely my own stupid fault.'

About as well handled as it is possible for a potentially career ending scandal to be handled.

Cameron meanwhile is left looking like a complete tit. The reveals keep coming, as one Conservative supporter after another is named. And the focus for everyone's attention shifts...not helped by his inadvertently leaving his 8 year old daughter behind in a pub the other day.

Now today I read something that me me lol. Honestly, I almost feel sorry for Cameron:

Thousands of staff at the Ministry in Longbenton are on strike against cuts which their union claims will undermine efforts to clamp down on tax avoidance.

Around 7,000 members of the PCS union based at the site are taking part in a nationwide walkout to protest at 10,000 job cuts at HM Revenue and Customs. Staff at the Washington offices on Wearside are also taking part in the action.

The strike will mean offices are closed and telephone calls go unanswered.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) claims the job losses, on top of 30,000 that have gone since the department was formed in 2005, will make it more difficult to prevent the kind of tax avoidance schemes used by comedian Jimmy Carr.
In response to reports about Jimmy Carr's use of the K2 scheme to avoid paying income tax on earnings, Prime Minister David Cameron described tax avoidance as "morally wrong".

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "It is sickening to see millionaires in the cabinet wringing their hands about the immorality of tax avoidance when it is their lack of political will to act that means we lose tens of billions of pounds every year.

"The case for investment in our public services as an alternative to austerity could not be more obvious than it is in HMRC.

"Yet the government wants to cut 10,000 more jobs from the department, letting the wealthy tax dodgers off the hook and punishing the rest of us for a recession we did not cause."

http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/23577


Watch this space. Cameron has made a rod for his and his party's backs. Midweek's apparent Carr crash morphing into a Cameron free for all.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by DanaC

At one point the two women on the panel commented on liking the new vulnerable Jimmy, and suggested he looked like he neded a hug.

I watched the clip you posted in the other thread, and I have to say, it made me very uncomfortable to see a sincere and vulnerable Jimmy Carr. It's like, if he can be broken down, then what chance do the rest of us have? I need him to go back to being a hero twat and making me laugh.