Is Jimmy Carr this generation's Tony Slattery?

He's this generation's IAIN LEE.

The good thing about Tony Slattery in the early days was that he quite often looked in danger of losing control completely of his performances - a high wire act.

Jimmy Carr (apart from the personal prejudice that I can't bear to look at him too much) is like some kind of unexciting corporate drone.

i may have heard that one before

what about that bearded moron on c4 who tried to reform the grange hill cast who recorded the 'just say no' campaign?

Egad.

recently seen trying to get all those 70s christmas #1 stars to record christmas song. exactly the same as the grange hill show but with different people. 'oh look, so and so has just turned up and he's brought showaddywaddy with him...'.

i also laughed at jimmy carr. then i didn't. then i did.

the fucking team captains on '8 out of 10 cats'.

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http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/2060/601284577.jpg

is this story being discussed anywhere on here?

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/538074_10150915583601305_1202337097_n.jpg

why doesn't it mention his own dad?

siring Dave Cameron was morally rong?

re cams dad : cos he's no longer paying tax ?

Note that the Mirror doesn't mention tax dodger Barlow either.

On sober reflection, I think the only person in the world I hate more than Jimmy Carr is Nicola Sturgeon

This still holds true 6 years on but I still think Cameron singling out Carr was a shitty move, but he's a bully we all know that by now

As much as I hate Carr, he's been set up to take the fall for the 999 other people in that tax dodge scheme who want to keep their names out of the papers.

He was the one person that was dumb enough to criticise banks/bankers for using tax dodges.

Why is David Cameron, a former PR man, so completely fucking inept at PR? I don't really understand what he was thinking putting tax avoidance on the agenda, he obviously doesn't really believe it and it was clear it was going to blow up in his face. The only thing I can think of is that it might have discredited some senior Labour dudes in ways we don't know about yet.

I think it's great that this public debate is taking place but don't really see what Cameron will gain from it. Even if it does help reduce the deficit in the longer term, which I highly doubt, because they don't care enough.

I like how three of Take That were in a tax avoidance scheme but no-one told Jason about it.

Anyway, yes, regardless of personal feelings about Carr, it seems ludicrous to single him out. I expect Cameron to come down heavy on anyone now who finds legal loopholes to pay less tax. Everyone in my work's salary sacrifice pension scheme, Cycle To Work scheme, etc, for starters.

Why is David Cameron, a former PR man, so completely fucking inept at PR?

Because he's arrogant and lazy is my opinion and, of course, singling people out for snide remarks is what he does virtually every time he stands up at the despatch box. Or maybe he wasn't a very good PR man either. Tell you what, this lot aren't half missing Andy Coulson!

There's a fairly significant difference between a cycle-to-work scheme and pretending you're earning minimum wage while a company in Jersey "lends" you hundreds of thousands of pounds you'll never have to pay back, though. This isn't the minimisation of tax burdens, it's full-on evasion that has squeaked through a loophole.

I'm pretty sure Cameron would have wanted the whole affair to blow over but he was asked directly about Carr a number of times and i guess he had to give some kind of response indicating that he wasn't ok with such flagrant abuses.

So, because he doesn't like him, he can label this the "Jimmy Carr Tax Avoidance Scheme and ones like it" and 'refer' any other such cases/basis against this category by default/implication.

A bit like the "Fearn Cotton" BBC coverage of the Jubilee boat float.

Was he asked about him? (xp) He wasn't asked in the interview itself.

Also, it's OK to criticise this individual as his money comes 'direct' from people buying tickets, as opposed to salaries paid by banks, etc.

I like the idea that maybe he'd heard some Jimmy Carr jokes about him or his wife and saw a chance to use drive-by tax-dodge sniping as vengeance tool. Glad this is coming back at him. No strong feelings about Carr, but enraging how he was singled out.

I'm sure that was what happened. Find a bad name for the dog, basically.

It was in danger of being called the "Lord Ashcroft Tax Avoidance Scheme(s) and those like it".

That will not happen, now.

Jimmy Carr brown-nosing the Queen was equally as indefensible in my book

xps, I think the whole thing played out over a couple of days. Osborne was asked about it first and said it was unacceptable, Cameron was then asked about Carr directly a couple of times, i think, and said something non-committal. I suppose this might have been seen as weak so he felt he needed to come out a bit stronger the next time it came up. I'm not 100% sure on the timeline but given that the newspaper reports all singled out Carr first, and he was the only "name" associated with the scheme, it's fairly understandable that Cameron would mention him, even if it wasn't exactly advisable.

I thought Cameron came up with some sort of cock-and-bull story of how he read about the whole thing in the newspapers on the plane, back from or to wherever he is, and was so enraged by it he felt he had to speak out... he's like that you know

I've been watching ITN recently so my grasp of the facts may be wonky. I have a feeling they mentioned Cameron being asked about Carr and sounding weaker than the Chancellor on it but then "reading about the issue on his iPad" and coming out a bit stronger the next day.

One of the reasons I voted Green this time round was because they vowed to flush out tax havens - but really I'm more concerned about large organisations, not individuals like Carr. Haven't these things always existed and always been known about? My cynical side is increasingly of the opinion that this is a clever, passive way for the Tories to get their tax-dodging cronies to come out of the woodwork voluntarily, rather than having to be too heavy-handed about it and risk losing cachet. As a result, they'll be lauded as a party who clamp down on tax evaders one scandal at a time.

Singling-out Jimmy Carr is a coup, frankly - an attempt to bring down the career of a critic and satirist of the current administration just in time for his appearance at the opening of the Olympics. Watch him get switched for a less "outspoken" host...

Following this debacle, I wonder what other ruinous, "morally repugnant" (but not technically illegal) things people are going to start getting called out for....

I really want some unrepentant mp to use the phrase 'Don't hate the player, hate the game'.

Cameron, of course, has done himself no favours here, but he'll no doubt whitewash over the affair as he always does - people mustn't forget it though. Sadly, it looks like it'll be a lot harder for Carr to bounce back. Unless he plays his cards right, he risks shouldering a stigma for a very long time. I wonder if this spells the end for 10 O'Clock Live, a show that's actively critical of the current administration and popular with young voting audiences?

https://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/commentisfree/2012/jun/21/tax-scams-legal-repugnant-jimmy-carr

Apparently, they all had a good chuck(le) at his expense at yesterday's taping of .8cats

10 O'Clock Live, a show that's… popular with young voting audiences

Is this true? I thought it was sinking, but hadn't paid attn.

Anyhow, I don't think there'll be that much stigma. This quickly flipped into being about big tory tax dodgers, and Carr's quite sharp about how he's perceived + has already apologised + can and will take the 'BANTER' payback.

Plus I imagine a lot of his audience are more 'can't blame you for trying m8 I'd do the same' than 'that MONSTER is stealing hospitals'.

Signs I am old = I am a little wary/bemused/queasy about important public statements that may have an enormous affect on someone's career being designed in 140-character bursts for twitter.

will it tho?

It was spread over 4 or 5 twitter posts

Yeah Mark I know, I have actually seen it.

xp Well it might've! There's probably about a dozen things he could've done that would've gotten him called a monster on the red-tops instead.

Carr's never struck me as a political comedian any more than any comedian who throws in a few "lol this government eh?" eye-rolls gags into their observational shtick

i mean, this hardly undermines his outspoken support for a progressive tax system and the nationalisation of public services

I tend to think that Carr is odious, but the people involved in the Vodafone/ HMRC stitch-up (and similar debacles) are infinitely more so.

xp
yeah, he's basically an opportunistic + efficient gag machine. Likes money, cars. I can't really see any 'hypocrite' charge sticking.

how about those clowns in Congress what a bunch of clowns

Fat clowns. They're fat and they're clowns.

carr's response was a snidey mealy-mouthed apology from a viciously unpleasant man. picture him doing a little smirky outraged eye roll as he says "i now realise i made a terrible error of judgement" (subtext: did nothing wrong, how dare you). let's do a retake on that little scene he described:

“Do you want to pay less tax? It’s totally legal.” I said “Yes.” Then he said "You'll be paying 1% tax on your millions." I thought about how my family and I use Britain's public services every single day, and how I make my money from the working public who pay around 20-40% tax, and I thought yeah I'm better than each and everyone one of those idiots and said "I AM THE 1%, sign me up!"

my take on this is that hopefully it's a gateway thing, the press now know that tax/accountancy issues CAN sell papers so they'll be scratching around for the next big name, frightening toerags into paying their fair share. the golden egg will be if the press turn attackdog on cameron for his hypocrisy and don't let up

depressing that the rich need to be *frightened* into paying their fair share but if that's the only option there is then so be it. is it likely that this tory govt will close these loopholes? i keep reading murmurs of how HRMC is working on it but nothing concrete.

but yeah, my heart fails to bleed for multi-millionaire bully jimmy carr getting a bit of grief in the press, even if he is a lesser-evil than philip green et al. fingers crossed this is a new dawn of the press/public hating on the rich rather than the underclass/'benefit scroungers' etc.

Loved the way the media were trying to spin Carr as a left-winger. Hmmmmmmmmmm, no.

Yeah, satire is just another gig for him. It's like calling people on Have I Got News You left-wing because they make jokes about the government. No way is he some foe that Cameron wants to take down.

I think the Sunday Times played a blinder leading on a celebrity because that's how you get attention for causes. Most people don't give a shit that some anonymous hedge-fund Tory donor is avoiding tax, at least until the issue is front and centre. No Jimmy Carr, no Mirror front page fingering the other avoiders. It's like phone-hacking - it was known about for ages but it took the Milly Dowler case to swing public opinion and eventually lead to the Leveson inquiry. If you care about this issue then complaining about Carr being singled out is self-defeating imo.

outraged Graun journalists not exactly radical Leftists either etc etc etc

I don't think anger at super-rich tax avoidance really breaks down on a conventional left-right axis anyway. Obviously there'll be free market fanatics and political wonks who'll defend it but yr garden variety Home Counties Tories probably aren't crazy about paying more tax to subsidise billionaires. Which is way this makes sense coming from the Sunday Times. Plus it's another angle for Murdoch to attack Cameron from.

Plus it's another angle for Murdoch to attack Cameron from

^ this

... and to attack celebrities of course, even those whose phones haven't been hacked