People of Britain – how can you look at our leaders and say there is nothing to laugh about?

Puppets of Suella Braverman, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss at the world premiere of Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves the World, Birmingham, 7 February. Photograph: Jacob King/PA

In a commendably shameless attempt to promote their comedy slate, the good folk over at Sky recently conducted a survey of 2,000 great Britons to find out when the last time was that they, ie we, had laughed out loud. Their findings were no laughing matter: “42% of Brits admitted that they cannot remember the last time they laughed out loud, with 32% of those surveyed believing they haven’t as much as giggled in the last month.”

Laughter, merriment: it’s a serious business. It brings immense health benefits: it helps relax the body, boost the immune system, release endorphins (our natural feelgood chemicals) and burn calories. Laughter may even help you live longer. If I were confident it would not inspire this government to dream up further budget cuts, I’d max out and say laughter could ease pressure on the NHS.