We’ve all heard stories of political scandals, and executives spending non-profit money in ludicrous ways, right? Well, National Health Service (NHS) – a publicly funded healthcare system within the United Kingdom – has been spending thousands of taxpayers’ money on training jobless women to become stand-up comediennes.
The course – produced by a group called by Women and Theatre – is specifically aimed at women who are at risk of developing mental health problems. It may seem logical on paper, what with many comedians expressing how stand-up is like therapy. The problem is, however, all the class participants haven’t had to show any proof the aforementioned possible development of mental issues.
Chief executive of the watchdog group Taxpayers’ Alliance Mark Elliot has lashed out against this initiative telling England’s Daily Mail, “It is ridiculous to spend NHS resources on something like stand-up comedy. It would be laughable, if it wasn’t for the fact that this money is sorely needed elsewhere. It is crazy to have a health service that runs stand-up comedy classes while people die for lack of funding for medicines.”
