Don't split your sides

Here is a joke:

"A Scotsman ran into the street to pick up a penny and was knocked down and killed by a lorry. The coroner returned a verdict of death by natural causes."

Here is another joke, about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales:

"Diana, Queen of Hearts? More like off with her head."

If you think these can't be jokes because they're not funny, you are wrong. They are quoted as examples in The Right to Joke, just published by the Social Affairs Unit and written by Christie Davies, described as "Britain's leading academic expert on jokes".

If you haven't heard them before, it is because, according to Professor Davies, they have been censored by the media, which is in thrall to the political correctness of "liberal egalitarianism".

If you don't find them funny, you are wielding "hegemonic cultural power" and trying to suppress "a true expression of independent popular culture". Honest. This is no laughing matter.