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For years now, many performers at Edinburgh Fringe have spoken about their struggles to afford the sky-high prices for their accommodation each August.

This year, with Oasis’s reunion tour coming to the city for three nights, the cost of securing a room for a month at the biggest arts festival in the world is even higher.

Comedian Marc Borrows says “the ‘Oasis effect’ on the Fringe economy has been catastrophic”.

Marc Borrows. Pic: Alexis Dubus
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A flat cost Marc Borrows ‘an extra thousand pounds this year’. Pic: Alexis Dubus

Rather fittingly, his stand-up show this year is called The Britpop Hour.

“It’s an idea I’d had in my back pocket for a while,” he explains. “Then the band reformed and when I saw they were playing Edinburgh I thought ‘yeah, this is the year to do this!'”

While he’s thrilled that the Gallagher brothers are coming to town, it means many performers are taking a financial hit.

“I’ll give you an example, I tried to get the same flat that I’ve had the last two years at the Fringe, a student flat, nothing fancy, and it costs an extra thousand pounds this year.”

Because of the increased demand for beds, newcomer Amy Albright will be sleeping in her red Volkswagen for her two-week stint at the Fringe.

“Costs are even more expensive,” she says. “It’s just not an option for me, so instead I’m living in my car.”

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Amy Albright says sleeping in her car saves a lot of money

With blackout blinds and a portable coffee maker, she says it’s actually not as bad as some might think.

“I park just outside of town in a really nice safe area, I use a gym for showers … this saves me so much money … I wouldn’t be able to afford to perform at the Fringe otherwise.”

Holly Spillar’s show Tall Child explores her relationship with class. She was fortunate enough to be one of 180 recipients of a £2,500 bursary from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.

It is the third year the Keep it Fringe fund has been run, backed this year by a £1m injection of government money.

As Holly explains: “I live month to month on a minimum wage job … and it costs me about five grand to do the fringe.”

Holly Spillar. Pic: Jennifer Forward-Hayter
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Holly Spillar says it ‘costs me about five grand to do the Fringe’. Pic: Jennifer Forward-Hayter

Alongside the grant, she’s also had to take out a loan, which she says will take her two years to pay back.

“It’s a very precarious situation you put yourself in just to be in the room,” she adds.

Chloe Petts – now an established name on the comedy circuit – says the problem needs to be recognised for being less about Oasis and more about a problem that’s been brewing for years.

Chloe Petts. Pic: Matt Stronge
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Chloe Petts says it’s problem that’s been brewing for years. Pic: Matt Stronge

“Accommodation is just totally out of control,” she says.

“If this leads us to further conversations about that, then fantastic but … it has to be a conversation about how it’s totally unaffordable for the average person to come to the Fringe, and I think that’s stopping a lot of people coming up who deserve to be here.”

Scottish comedian Susan McCabe, a lifelong Oasis fan, reckons there’s no point getting too worked up, especially given the siblings fractious relationship.

“We are here every year and they may not even be here for those three gigs … they might have fallen out by then!”

She adds: “It is what it is, at the end of the day … they were the greatest rock and roll band of the 1990s, just let them be.”

Read more:
Jewish comedian says shows cancelled – as Gaza in spotlight

Watch: How do geopolitics feed into Fringe festival?

• Amy Albright is performing her stand-up at locations across Edinburgh, including Not My Audience!, on 8 August
• Holly Spillar: Tall Child is at Underbelly until 24 August
• Chloe Petts: Big Naturals is at Pleasance Courtyard until 24 August
• Susan McCabe: Best Behaviour is at Gordon Aikman Theatre until 24 August
• The Britpop Hour with Marc Burrows is at Underbelly until 25 August

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‘This shouldn’t have happened’: Bishop who interrupted church choir in dressing gown apologises

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'This shouldn't have happened': Bishop who interrupted church choir in dressing gown apologises

A bishop who interrupted a church concert in his dressing gown – and told singers to “leave his house” – has formally apologised to the choir.

Jonathan Baker was filmed standing barefoot at a microphone as he criticised performers for making a “terrible racket” at St Andrew’s Church in central London.

Addressing the City Academy Voices choir directly, the bishop of Fulham said: “I write to apologise for the distress and offence I caused in bringing the concert to a premature end.

“This should not have happened … I also apologise for remarks which were made in haste, and which have understandably caused hurt and distress.”

The bishop, in his dressing gown, gave the choir a dressing down
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The bishop, in his dressing gown, gave the choir a dressing down

Mr Baker had demanded for the performance to stop because it was 10pm – and says he didn’t realise the choir had booked the church until 11pm.

In the statement obtained by Sky News, he added: “I have lived here on site at St Andrew’s for 10 years, for much of which City Academy has rehearsed and performed here.

“You have been, and continue to be, welcome – and I hope that you will be able to continue the relationship with us.

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“I can give you every assurance that the events of Friday evening will not recur, and I apologise again to performers (especially those unable to perform at the end of the evening) and the audience alike.”

The choir performed their last song
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The choir performed their last song

The choir was performing to a 300-strong audience in Holborn when the lights were suddenly turned off, with Mr Baker declaring the concert was “over”.

A church employee then asked the crowd to leave quietly and for the musicians to step down from the stage, attracting boos from the audience.

The choir went on to perform one last song, an A cappella version of ABBA’s Dancing Queen, before bringing their show to a close.

Read more from Sky News:
Why Oasis tour is ‘catastrophic’ for Fringe performers
North Korea opens its doors to Russian tourists

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Jonathan Baker has apologised

One member of the audience, who was attending with his 10-year-old daughter, told Sky News he initially thought the interruption was a staged joke.

Benedict Collins had told Sky News: “This work deserves respect, not to be disparaged as a ‘terrible racket’. The people here had put their heart and soul into it.

“The bishop cut them off in midstream, preventing soloists who had worked their hardest from singing – and preventing the audience, which included people of all ages, from enjoying it to the end.”

The choir told Sky News it was “upsetting” that they were unable to finish their show as planned, but “hold no hard feelings and wish the bishop well”.

A spokesperson added: “If anyone is thinking of joining one of our choirs, the City Academy Voices rehearse on Mondays in central London. Dressing gowns optional.”

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X criticises Online Safety Act – and warns it’s putting free speech in the UK at risk

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X criticises Online Safety Act - and warns it's putting free speech in the UK at risk

The Online Safety Act is putting free speech at risk and needs significant adjustments, Elon Musk’s social network X has warned.

New rules that came into force last week require platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X – as well as sites hosting pornography – to bring in measures to prove that someone using them is over the age of 18.

The Online Safety Act requires sites to protect children and to remove illegal content, but critics have said that the rules have been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content.

X has warned the act’s laudable intentions were “at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach”.

It said: “When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of ‘online safety’.

“It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made.”

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What are the new online rules?

X claims the timetable for platforms to meet mandatory measures had been unnecessarily tight – and despite complying, sites still faced threats of enforcement and fines, “encouraging over-censorship”.

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“A balanced approach is the only way to protect individual liberties, encourage innovation and safeguard children. It’s safe to say that significant changes must take place to achieve these objectives in the UK,” it said.

A UK government spokesperson said it is “demonstrably false” that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech.

“As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression,” they added.

Users have complained about age checks that require personal data to be uploaded to access sites that show pornography, and 468,000 people have already signed a petition asking for the new law to be repealed.

In response to the petition, the government said it had “no plans” to reverse the Online Safety Act.

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Why do people want to repeal the Online Safety Act?

Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage likened the new rules to “state suppression of genuine free speech” and said his party would ditch the regulations.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said on Tuesday that those who wanted to overturn the act were “on the side of predators” – to which Mr Farage demanded an apology, calling Mr Kyle’s comments “absolutely disgusting”.

Regulator Ofcom said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into how four companies – that collectively run 34 pornography sites – are complying with new age-check requirements.

Read more from Sky News:
British children who drowned off Spain named
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These companies – 8579 LLC, AVS Group Ltd, Kick Online Entertainment S.A. and Trendio Ltd – run dozens of sites, and collectively have more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors, the internet watchdog said.

The regulator said it prioritised the companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operated and their user numbers.

It adds to the 11 investigations already in progress into 4chan, as well as an unnamed online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, and two adult websites.

Ofcom said it expects to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months.

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British children who drowned off Spanish coast named

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British children who drowned off Spanish coast named

Two siblings who drowned while on holiday in Spain have been named – with a fundraiser for their family reaching £40,000.

Ameiya and Ricardo Junior Parris, aged 13 and 11, died on Tuesday evening after getting into difficulty off Llarga beach in Salou, Catalonia.

Their father Ricardo tried to rescue them, but he also got into difficulty and was unconscious when he was pulled from the water. He was later released from hospital with a concussion.

Ricardo Senior and his partner, Shanice Del-Brocco, 31, were staying at the Hotel Best Negresco right by the beach with their six children when tragedy struck.

Ameiya and Ricardo Junior. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire
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Ameiya and Ricardo Junior have been described as “hilarious, sensitive and loving”. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire

The construction worker from Birmingham had taken their two oldest children for one final swim while Shanice had taken the younger ones back to the hotel.

“They’d gone out. They were being sensible. They’re very good swimmers,” the children’s aunt, Kayla Del-Brocco, said.

“They knew it was late. However, they’d been doing this every day on holiday, so that day was no different. They didn’t go out far, but the current was just too strong and pulled them.”

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A hotel worker saw the siblings struggling in the water and called for help. When Shanice returned to the beach, emergency services were already at the scene, with Junior, nicknamed Joby, taken away in a helicopter.

“It’s breaking (Ricardo), if I’m honest, because he was in the water, and I know he said things to my sister like: ‘I had him, I had Joby in my arms, and we got smacked up the rocks, and that’s the last thing I remember,'” Shanice’s sister said.

Ricardo Senior suffered a “nasty concussion and some bumps and batters”, Ms Del-Brocco said, adding that he was the first to be rescued.

Little Ameiya and her baby brother Ricardo Junior. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire
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Little Ameiya and her oldest brother Ricardo Junior. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire

The couple were unable to see their children’s bodies until Thursday at the mortuary and are now waiting for them to be repatriated to the UK, which they were told “could be anything from seven to 15 days”, Ms Del-Rocco said.

“They are just numb. They’re holding each other up and keeping it together for the little ones at the minute; going through the motions and desperately waiting to come home now.”

Read more from Sky News:
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Man charged after children fell ill at summer camp

The GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of repatriating the bodies of Ameiya and Ricardo Junior, which was set up by her cousin, has already raised around £40,000, which Ms Del-Rocco described as “phenomenally overwhelming”.

“Maya was intelligent, thoughtful, and growing into a strong young woman. Ricardo Junior was playful, kind, and always smiling. They brought so much love, laughter, and energy into the lives of everyone around them,” the fundraising page reads.

“Their absence has left an unbearable silence not just for their parents, but for their whole family, who were incredibly close and shared an unbreakable bond.”

Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire
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Ameiya and Ricardo Junior were doting older siblings. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire

Ms Del-Brocco said that Ameiya and Junior, who were in Years 7 and 8 at North Birmingham Academy, were doting older siblings, with their mother describing them as “hilarious, sensitive and loving – the best big brother and sister anyone could want”.

Their aunt said that Ameiya, a talented runner with ambitions of going to the Olympics, was “unapologetically just herself” and “driven by being unique”.

Ricardo Junior was a “very, very special one-of-a-kind character” who wanted to become a famous YouTuber.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of two British children who have died in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”

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