A stand-up comedian claims he can't get bookings in Scotland because the SNP "own the main comedy clubs".
Leo Kearse, who failed to win election to the Scottish Parliament in May, insists The Stand Comedy Club - which has branches in Edinburgh and Glasgow - won't hire him because he's "anti-woke".
The famous club was co-founded by current SNP MP Tommy Sheppard in 1995 and is a major venue at the annual Edinburgh Fringe festival, hosting dozens of famous names over the years.
In response, The Stand said Kearse simply wasn't funny enough to get bookings.
The comic stood for Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party at the Holyrood election against then Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf in his Glasgow Pollok constituency.
He won just 114 votes (0.3 per cent) finishing in second last place. Yousaf retained his seat by winning 18,163 votes.
Speaking in The Times, Kearse said: "Scotland is like North Korea.
"You have state-owned comedy clubs; you have women charged for sending tweets with suffragette ribbons. Cancel culture is really accelerating."
A spokesman for the Stand Comedy Club told The Times: "Leo has done gigs here before.
"Every act gets reviewed by our staff, and the feedback was that he wasn't landing with our audience.
"We booked based on that."
The SNP said it would not be commenting on the claims.
Sheppard did not comment.
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