What we’ve learned from the Oasis announcement – and the unanswered questions

Published

3 months ago

August 27, 2024

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It is the news fans have waited 15 years for – Liam and Noel Gallagher are finally reuniting Oasis for a comeback tour.

They will play 14 shows across the UK and Ireland in 2025 – an announcement made on Tuesday morning following weeks of speculation.

Liam and Noel Gallagher both shared the news on social media.

Tickets go on sale on Saturday, and further Oasis shows outside Europe are also being planned.

Here’s what else we’ve learned from the reunion announcement – and the questions yet to be answered.

The first photo

Noel Gallagher famously left the band, signalling the end of Oasis (or so we thought at the time), back in 2009. The brothers have not been pictured in public together since – so Simon Emmett, the photographer who took this photographer, has captured a moment in history.

The new image comes after they met for a photoshoot in London last month, Sky News understands.

The pair were “laughing and joking” with each other as they stood in front of the camera, according to reports, with a source close to the brothers confirming to The Mirror newspaper that they did pose together.

“I know it looks like it could be photoshopped but they were both there and they have met up,” the source reportedly said. “They were laughing and joking. It was great to see after all the years apart.”

Is Glastonbury off the cards? What about a Wembley record?

Ahead of the official announcement from Oasis, tabloid reports suggested the band would also be headlining Glastonbury.

It seemed to make sense, especially as the festival will be taking a break for a fallow year in 2026. Next year’s should be a big one.

The band previously headlined the festival in 1995 and 2004 and Liam and Noel have played separately in recent years.

However, their statement says the UK and Ireland shows will be their only shows in Europe next year, seemingly quashing those rumours. Glastonbury falls before what is currently the first show in Cardiff on 4 July. Would the Gallaghers really want to share a stage for their first performance?

There were also reports they had booked 10 dates for Wembley – which would break Taylor Swift’s recently set record of eight. So far, only four are announced – but if tickets sell out quickly on Saturday, as expected, it wouldn’t be a surprise if more dates are added.

Are Liam and Noel friends again?

After years of exchanging insults, some joking but some deadly serious, the Gallagher brothers deciding to appear on stage together again is huge – but the statement announcing their comeback does not reveal how and why they finally kissed and made up.

“The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”

This was the official statement from Oasis confirming the reunion. Further details said there was “no great revelatory moment”, but rather “the gradual realisation that the time is right”. This is it as far as it goes when it comes to addressing their infamous fall-out.

There is no real acknowledgement of the fact they haven’t been on speaking terms for years. Fans will be hoping this is about building bridges and friendship, as well as bringing the music back.

The rest of the band

So far, it has only been confirmed that Liam and Noel will reunite, with no details yet of the musicians who will join them on stage.

The band went through numerous incarnations after forming in 1991 with Liam, rhythm guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, bassist Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan and drummer Tony McCarroll – later being joined by Noel.

Gem Archer, who took over rhythm guitar duties following Bonehead’s departure in 1999, has managed to remain close to both Gallaghers, performing in Liam’s Beady Eye post-Oasis and now currently part of Noel’s High Flying Birds. Chris Sharrock, who was in the band from 2008-09 and is the only other Oasis member to join the brothers in their respective solo projects, seems the most likely presence on drums.

In recent years, Bonehead has performed with Liam, with the presumption being that he and Noel were not talking – but, replying to a fan on social media last year, he revealed the pair had recently spoken and were on good terms.

It is highly unlikely Guigsy or McCarroll will be joining the reunion. Drummer McCarroll was fired in 1995, before the band went from being the next big thing to the biggest band on the planet, while bassist Guigsy has rarely been seen in public since he quit the band weeks after Bonehead. He declined to take part in the Supersonic film in 2016 and in 2019 Liam said: “Not seen him since he left the band and he only lives up the road.”

There is also Andy Bell, who performed with Beady Eye but was said to have a frosty relationship with Noel. However, in 2023 his band Ride supported High Flying Birds. Alan White, Oasis’s longest-serving drummer, was fired from the band in 2004, with the reasons remaining unclear; his replacement, Zak Starkey, son of Beatles drummer Ringo, performed with the band from 2004 until 2008, but reportedly fell out with Noel.

Get saving

The reaction, unsurprisingly, has been significant. Thousands and thousands of people will want to get their hands on those tickets.

If you don’t live in any of the gig cities, you might need somewhere to stay, too. But get in there quickly.

Hotel prices for Oasis’s first night at Wembley are already as much as three times as expensive as the week before, our news correspondent Matthew Thompson reported.

He said a quick look at hotels following the announcement showed some don’t have rooms available for the 25 and 26 July and 2 and 3 August gigs, while others appear to have seen an increase in price.

“I had a quick look at a Holiday Inn a couple of miles away the week before the concert, it’s £195 a night. The first night of the concert, it’s £594 a night,” he reported.

“So already people are getting on the hotel rooms even before the tickets go on sale. That gives you some sense of just how much demand there is for these tickets.”

UK

Teenage girl killed on M5 in Somerset after getting out of police car named

Published

7 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Teenage girl killed on M5 in Somerset after getting out of police car named

A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.

Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.

She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.

A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.

Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.

“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.

“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”

The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.

In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.

“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”

Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.

UK

Mohamed al Fayed’s brother Salah also abused women, say female Harrods employees

Published

7 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Mohamed al Fayed's brother Salah also abused women, say female Harrods employees

A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.

Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.

The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.

One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.

Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.

Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.

The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”

The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.

Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.

The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.

A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.

“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.

One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.

Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.

UK

Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman

Published

7 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Wes Streeting 'crossed the line' by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman

Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.

Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.

MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.

But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.

He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.

Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈

“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.

“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.

“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.

“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”

Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.

She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.

“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.

The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.

Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.

The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.

MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.