‘Feminists can’t tell us what to do with our bodies’: Sex workers fight council strip club ban in Edinburgh
Strippers in Edinburgh have told Sky News the council’s decision to ban sexual entertainment venues (SEVs) will financially devastate them, as the clubs and the union launch a judicial review to challenge the shutdown of the city’s clubs.
Three Edinburgh clubs (Baby Dolls, The Western and Burke and Hare) and the United Sex Workers (USW) union argue the council vote to limit the number of licensed venues to zero from April 2023 will force the industry underground, making it riskier for the women.
‘It should be my choice’
Edinburgh dancer Sasha told Sky News the choice should be hers to make.
“I think it is our right to choose that and I don’t think it’s right for feminists to tell women what they should and shouldn’t be doing with their bodies, what jobs they should do, and what jobs they shouldn’t do,” she said.
Sasha is an Edinburgh-based stripper
Sasha added that working as a stripper means good money and flexible shifts that helps her as a mother.
“As a parent, I just find it very flexible and there’s a potential for it to be well paid, so it ticks a lot of boxes for me. Particularly the flexibility, the money is never guaranteed, but the flexibility is great.”
Sasha doesn’t believe changing what she does is an option.
“It’s not that easy, we’ve been doing what we’re doing, most of us, for years – and that’s our trade, it’s our industry and that’s what we want to continue doing to make money.”
‘Epitome of the patriarchy’
However, for those campaigning for the ban of strip clubs, they say the choice to do this work shouldn’t be available.
Former Labour councillor and writer Susan Dalgety believes the council’s decision is right for women.
“As a feminist, I think that men paying us for sexual favours is the worst kind of exploitation of our bodies,” she said.
Former Edinburgh Labour councillor Susan Dalgety
“And it is the epitome of the patriarchy that men are much more powerful in society than women, and that all we are there for is either to reproduce the next generation or for the sexual entertainment of men.
“All Edinburgh is doing is saying that in our city we do not want to legitimise sexual entertainment. It’s living pornography.
“It is young women taking their clothes off and dancing sexually for the pleasure of men.”
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Ms Dalgety’s views have changed. As a young councillor, she believed such clubs should exist and be properly regulated for the safety of women.
In the 1990s, she voted to licence saunas “knowing full well that they were brothels”.
“Edinburgh was the epicentre of the AIDS epidemic in the UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it was spread through the drug using community,” she said.
“So it was in the heterosexual community and sex workers, unfortunately, were at a much higher risk of it,” Ms Dalgety said, adding the policy choice back then was “a public health decision”, but now she thinks the very existence of any sexual entertainment venue is problematic.
Forcing women into dangerous conditions
Mina from the USW union told Sky News that exploitation isn’t found in the clubs; instead, it is in forcing women into working minimum wage jobs.
“The patriarchy exists across all aspects of society, so clearly stripping is not free from that. However, it is the dancer’s decision to choose that form of work, they’re not being exploited,” she said.
Mina from the United Sex Workers union
“United Sex Workers take the position that shutting down legal, regulated place of work for dancers who are primarily women would force them to work more dangerous conditions, especially in a cost of living crisis.
“Sex workers are not to be blamed for exploitation of actual violence because it splits women into particles of good and bad. And it’s never that simple, and it’s not fair.”
Previously, sex workers have told Sky News that the cost of living crisis means they are unable to say no to dangerous clients.
Decision is for ‘prevention of crime and disorder’
In a statement, Edinburgh City Council told Sky News the decision to close down the strip clubs was for the “preservation of public safety and the prevention of crime and disorder” and that “SEVs can still apply for a licence and a committee would consider them against the agreed policy”.
The judicial review decision is expected to take several weeks, possibly months.
Entertainment
New Universal theme park set to open in UK – with promise of ‘billions’ of pounds for the economy
A deal for a new Universal theme park in Bedfordshire has been confirmed, which Rachel Reeves says will bring “billions” to the economy and create thousands of jobs.
It will be the first Universal-branded theme park and resort in Europe and is set to open in 2031, when it is expected to become the UK’s most popular visitor attraction.
The government said it will bring an estimated £50bn into the British economy and will create about 28,000 jobs – nearly 20,000 during the construction phase, and 8,000 more in hospitality and the creative industries when it opens.
A 500-room hotel and a retail and entertainment complex is planned alongside the theme park, which will be built on a former brickworks.
Universal, which is owned by Sky News’ US parent company Comcast, expects the 476-acre site just south of Bedford to generate nearly £50bn for the economy by 2055, with 8.5m visitors in its first year.
The plan remains subject to a formal planning decision process from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Universal has committed to working with local colleges and universities to train students for hospitality jobs.
There are Universal theme parks in Florida (pictured), California, Japan, Beijing and Singapore. Pic: AP
Among some of the famous Universal films are Wicked, Minions, Oppenheimer, Bridget Jones, Fast and the Furious, and Jurassic World.
There are five Universal theme parks already: Orlando in Florida, Hollywood, Japan, Beijing, and Singapore.
The new Universal theme park will be just south of Bedford
Speaking to Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the deal was “huge”.
“This is not just about numbers on the spreadsheet,” she said.
“This is about good jobs. It’s about growth. It’s about raising people’s living standards and putting money in people’s pockets. And it’s a massive vote of confidence in the United Kingdom.”
Welcoming the timing of the announcement, Ms Nandy added: “This deal comes off the back of one of the most tumultuous few weeks in global markets that I think anyone can remember within living memory.”
She said the fact that the government had been able to show it kept a “cool head” and “we don’t take knee-jerk decisions in response to global events” was one of the reasons it was able to announce the deal.
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The proposals to transform the site, a former brickworks, remain subject to a formal planning decision process
The government has said about 80% of employees at the theme park are expected to come from local areas, and it will support the “Oxford-Cambridge corridor” revived by the chancellor in January after the Conservatives scrapped plans for an Abingdon-Milton Keynes train link in 2021.
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It will also commit to a “major investment” in infrastructure around the Universal site to ensure it is well-connected and easily accessible.
The announcement comes days after the government approved an expansion of nearby Luton Airport.
Mike Cavanagh, President of Comcast Corporation, said: “We could not be more excited to take this very important step in our plan to create and deliver an incredible Universal theme park and resort in the heart of the United Kingdom, which complements our growing US-based parks business by expanding our global footprint to Europe.
“We appreciate the leadership and support of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Minister for Investment Poppy Gustafsson, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and their teams, as we work together to create and deliver a fantastic new landmark destination.”
Entertainment
BAFTA Games Awards: Astro Bot tops leaderboard – with psychological horror close behind
Astro Bot was the big winner at this year’s BAFTA Games Awards, taking home five prizes, including the coveted best game.
The 3D platformer, which was launched to critical acclaim in September to mark PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, was nominated for eight gongs, while Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, led with 11 nods.
But in the end, the critics – some of whom had dubbed Astro Bot a “perfect game” – were right as it dominated the awards at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, hosted by comedian Phil Wang for the second year running.
Astro Bot. Pic: Team Asobi
Nicolas Doucet with his five awards for Astro Bot. Pic: PA
BAFTAs for audio achievement, game design, animation, and best family game completed the set for developers Team Asobi, who designed multiple galaxies and dozens of levels for the titular Astro to journey through, retrieving spaceship parts and rescuing lost robots.
“We’re a team based in Japan, but we have over 12 nationalities. We really mix it up and get ideas from everyone,” Nicolas Doucet, president of Team Asobi, told Sky News.
“We do a lot of jokes in the game, but the joke has a different meaning depending on where you are in the world. So it’s really, really nice to go around and ask everyone ‘is that joke fine in your country?’ And then together we come to a kind of universal playfulness.”
Among the gongs for Astro Bot was the best game award. Pic: BAFTA
It’s a very different atmosphere than that generated by British psychological horror Still Wakes The Deep, which won three awards for best new intellectual property and best supporting and leading roles.
Compared to John Carpenter’s 1980 sci-fi horror The Thing but on a Scottish oil rig, the game sees players take on the role of an electrician trapped on a damaged facility while being pursued by monsters.
Still Wakes The Deep. Pic: Sumo Digital Limited
Developer The Chinese Room has been praised for using home-grown talent to voice the characters, including comedian and actress Karen Dunbar, who picked up best performer in a supporting role for voicing Finlay.
“I’ve been nominated for quite a few BAFTAs in my time in Scotland, and I’ve never won one,” said Dunbar.
“It was such a great category, so many great performances. When they shouted my name, I think I started clapping for someone else!”
Read more: See full list of winners
Still Wakes The Deep star Karen Dunbar won best performer in a supporting role. Pic: BAFTA
Meanwhile, best multiplayer game went to Helldivers II – a satirical, sci-fi shooter that sees players fight bugs, aliens and robots with the gumption and gullibility of the characters in Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers.
It has gained a cult following since launching in February 2024 with so much initial interest it created server problems.
“Games for me are about connecting people and forging those bonds of friendship and the multiplayer award is exactly what it stands for,” said Johan Pilestedt, chief executive of Arrowhead Game Studios.
Helldivers II. Pic: Arrowhead/Sony
From outer space to a fictional Yorkshire town called Barnsworth. Thank Goodness You’re Here! – a cartoonish, comedy platformer – won Best British Game. Like Still Wakes The Deep, it has won praise for the authenticity of its actors and setting.
“I think it’s been a real privilege to be able to represent Barnsley on the silver screen,” said Will Todd, who is from the town and one of two game designers behind the project.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! Pic: Coal Supper/Panic Inc
Co-creator James Carbutt added: “Me and Will wrote everything in our tone of voice, quite literally. The further along development we got, the more we lent into it. I think the voices from different parts of the UK and different voices in gaming are super important, and hopefully we’re one of them.”
By the time the BAFTAs wrapped up, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was only handed one of the 11 BAFTAs it was nominated for, technical achievement.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. Pic: Ninja Theory
But developers Ninja Theory are already adding this year’s win to a tally of five BAFTAs they were awarded for the first game in the series, which created a protagonist with psychosis by drawing on clinical neuroscience and the experiences of people living with the condition.
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