MPs call for Roma and Sinti genocide to be taught on national curriculum after Jimmy Carr row

Education secretary urged not to let genocide be ‘air-brushed out of teachings on this dark period’

MPs are calling for the genocide of Roma and Sinti people in the Holocaust to be included in the national curriculum.

It follows outrage over comments made by comedian Jimmy Carr, who used the Nazi murders of Gypsy people as a punchline in a Netflix stand-up routine.

He said people “never mention the thousands of Gypsies that were killed by the Nazis” in the Holocaust because “no one ever wants to talk about the positives”.

More than 500,000 Roma and Sinti people were tortured, starved, subjected to forced labour and medical experiments under the Nazis.

Now, members of three all party parliamentary groups (APPGs) have written to the education secretary Nadhim Zahawi, calling for the genocide to be taught in schools.

The Holocaust is a mandatory subject on the secondary school history curriculum – but the mass murder of Roma and Sinti people by the Nazis is not.

The letter says it is “wholly inappropriate” to leave this to the discretion of schools.

“This must change, so that children and society as a whole can fully understand the dangers of ‘othering’ and racist views against Roma and Gypsy communities,” it says.

Labour MP Kim Johnson, an officer of the APPG for Race Equality in Education, argued it was vital the genocide was not “air-brushed out of teachings on this dark period.”

She warned racial hatred and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities is “very much alive.”

Mr Carr’s comments were greeted with laughter and applause by his audience on the Netflix special His Dark Materials – but have since been denounced by politicians, including the prime minister.

The letter adds: “A number of cabinet ministers have rightly condemned the ‘joke’ but government must move to address this in a way that effects meaningful change.”

It also called for broader measures to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children in school.

Research by the charity Friends, Families and Travellers found 86 per cent of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children had been bullied at school, while 73 per cent had experienced racism.

Ms Johnson said: “We have a duty not only to address and tackle racial prejudice, but to take steps to ensure that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children have an inclusive learning environment to help address the desperately poor educational outcomes they experience.”

One initial step would be celebrating Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month in schools, the letter says.

It was signed by the APPGs for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, the Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, and Race Equality in Education officers.

Baroness Janet Whitaker, co-chair of the APPG for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, said: “Racial hatred has no place in a civilised society.

“Now is the time for government to take steps to ensure a more comprehensive education around the Holocaust, which takes account of the Roma and Sinti annihilation, and for schools to reinforce the message that all people are of equal worth and equally worthy of respect.”

The department for education has previously explained schools “have the flexibility to teach about the persecution of different groups of people by the Nazis” but stopped short of saying the genocide of Roma and Sinti people should be made compulsory.