Customers regularly share their excitement for new items on social media, but a recent post has seen some footwear more than double in price.

The fashion retailer has sold its basic flip flops for 90p for years, but now customers have seen an increase in the price, saying it’s the “end of an era” as they now cost £2.

Having said this, the flip flops were posted on the official Primark TikTok page in 2024, and they cost £1 back then.

One customer said on the Bargain Lovers Facebook page that the price increase was “crazy”.

While the flip flops have been a staple for customers’ holidays over the years, they have also been used at weddings for guests who needed a break from uncomfortable shoes like heels.

Primark increases price of flip flops ahead of summer

The flip flops come in a range of colours, including white, black, pink, blue, navy and dark brown, and they’re only available to buy in stores rather than online.

Sharing a picture of the Primark flip flops on the shelves of one of its stores, someone said: “£2 at Primark?? The 90p days were elite”, sparking a debate with shoppers sharing their thoughts on the new price.

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Some shoppers were shocked on seeing the news: “2 quid now xx”, adding two shocked face emojis.

Another customer said they were “fuming”, while someone else said the change in price is “disgusting”.

While some shoppers think the increase is big, others disagreed with one saying: “tbf though, 90p was too low”.

This person commented: “Cost of doing business goes up, price of goods go up to match that.

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“The government increased employer NI contributions and minimum wage for a start and Primark employs 30,000 people in the UK.

“£2 is still dirt cheap imo though! A cup of coffee is more than that.”

The new price didn’t seem to phase this customer: “I’m just glad they are finally back in stock”.

Newsquest has approached Primark for comment.

If he pops up on Would I Lie To You? , Last One Laughing, or wanders into shot on Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing , you know you are about to get a story that starts small and ends in tears of laughter.

His tales have become the sort of thing people fire into WhatsApp chats with a simple: “You’ve got to watch this.”

The way he tells them

Plenty of comics tell daft stories. What makes Mortimer different is how real his nonsense feels.

Think about that hilarious self‑dentistry story on Would I Lie To You? . He talks about his teeth going wrong after a chocolate bar and calmly drifts into describing how he sorted it out himself, like he is chatting about putting up a shelf.

@uanddave Would you let Bob Mortimer in your mouth? #bobmortimer #wouldilietoyou #comedy #dentist Watch Would I Lie To You? on @UKTV Play ♬ original sound – U&Dave

You can see the panel wobbling between disbelief and total acceptance, because he throws in just enough everyday detail to make the madness sound possible.

It is the same with the Chris Rea bath tale, or the gaming‑chair saga, or the time he explains a run‑in with the police that should not make sense but somehow does.

He never rushes. He circles back, adds a tiny extra detail, and suddenly you realise you have leaned forward without noticing.

It feels less like a TV bit and more like listening to the best storyteller in the pub who has finally warmed up and started on the good stuff.

Fans talk about his episodes of WILTY as the ones they always click on first. You hear people say they have “lost an hour” rewatching his clips, because once you start on one story you end up jumping straight into another.

Why Gone Fishing hits differently

Then there is Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing , which feels like a completely different show until Bob opens his mouth and you realise it is the same brain at work, just with more sky and fewer studio lights.

On paper, it is two blokes by a river.

null (Image: BBC/Robert Pereira Hind)

In reality, it is long, daft conversations about nothing in particular that suddenly open up into something very honest about getting older and being scared.

You get the wobbly walks along the bank, the dafter moments when he ends up on his backside or arguing with a camping chair, but you also get those pauses where he and Paul Whitehouse talk very plainly about heart surgery and what comes after.

The switches between clowning and vulnerability feel natural rather than forced.

It is exactly how a day out with an old mate often goes: serious for five minutes, then completely stupid again.

That is why people lean on Bob when life feels heavy.

A Teesside voice in a national spotlight

Through all of this, Mortimer has never sounded like he has drifted away from where he started.

The way he describes streets, neighbours and jobs feels very recognisable if you grew up anywhere in the North East.

null (Image: John Bailey)

There is a particular rhythm to how he talks about stupid decisions, daft plans and old cars that belongs to this part of the world.

That is why younger viewers who find him through clipped‑up WILTY stories or short Gone Fishing moments often end up digging back through older work like Shooting Stars .

They are not just stumbling across a random panel‑show regular. They are discovering someone whose voice carries a whole region with it, even when he is talking about something as daft as improvised dentistry or a spa day gone wrong.

Why the clips never die

In an internet full of things you only watch once, Mortimer’s stories are oddly rewatchable.

The punchline is never the only point.

null (Image: Ian West/PA)

You come back for the way he sets it up, the way his face goes serious just as the story goes ridiculous, and the way everyone around him slowly falls apart.

Even when you know where his dentistry tale is heading, you still want to hear how he gets there. The same is true of Gone Fishing .

In the end, that is why the love for Bob Mortimer keeps bouncing back every time a clip resurfaces.

He brings proper oddness into the most ordinary settings, but never sneers at the people or places in his stories.

He sounds like a Teesside neighbour, behaves like the funniest person in your friendship group, and somehow turns dental cement, motorway lay‑bys and quiet riverbanks into part of the country’s shared in‑jokes.

For a lot of readers here, he will always be that lad from Middlesbrough who made it big and never stopped sounding like one of us.

Addressing the crowd on Sunday, Bobby Vylan said: “Here we are today as a community in an attempt to remain human and let this Government know that despite all of their scare tactics, for every doctor they harass with repeated arrests; for every musician they attempt to ban from playing shows; for every pensioner with a placard they bundle into a police van; for every political prisoner they hope starves to death; we are here unbreakable and human standing always with the people of Gaza.

A Cambridgeshire single mum featured on the Channel 5 show with her daughters

A single mother was moved to tears when she was presented with a family holiday and a significant career boost on TV programme, Rich House, Poor House.

Katie participated in the show alongside her two daughters, as they swapped homes – and lives – with an affluent Norfolk family for a week.

The family, who had been facing financial difficulties and occasionally relied on a food bank when funds were low, vacated their three-bedroom Cambridgeshire home to reside in Matt and Danni’s £1.2 million Norfolk residence.

The families exchanged budgets, with Matt and Danni, parents of three who operate a luxury mattress and bedding business, subsisting on Katie’s weekly budget of £82.61 after bills. Meanwhile, Katie and her daughters Shelby and Dixie were given £1,900 spending money for the week.

During the poignant episode, which aired on Sunday (March 15), Katie revealed that she was juggling four part-time jobs, including caring for her father Ted, who suffers from heart failure and is both deaf and diabetic, reports Wales Online.

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She also had plans to establish her own second-hand clothing business, specialising in plus-size attire, with the assistance of her mother Rosemary.

“It’s hard work trying to juggle earning a living and being a mum at the same time,” she said. “I’ve been using a food bank just to top up some shopping when I can’t afford it,” she added.

The programme showed Katie’s family experiencing the high life, being able to spend freely on takeaways and designer clothing. In contrast, Matt and Danni found themselves staying in and enjoying board games with their children as they lacked the funds to venture out.

The pair also carried out some maintenance work at Katie’s home, hanging a curtain at her bedroom window and painting the wooden staircase, which had remained unfinished as Katie couldn’t afford to decorate.

When the life swap concluded, the families met face to face for the first time. Following a discussion about their experiences, Matt and Danni expressed their desire to support Katie and her daughters Shelby and Dixie.

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Katie appeared visibly moved as Danni told her: “So we thought that it would be nice to pay for a family holiday for you guys on the Norfolk Broads on a boat for a week. You guys, and Ted and Rosemary as well, so that you can all be together.”

Matt added: “And also something that we’d like to do as well is help you with the business since you’ve already made such a great start. We would like to put £500 in for initial stock just to get up and running and going. And what you do need to do is focus your attention. So we’ve basically drawn a five year plan. And I think within a year, you can certainly be giving all the other jobs up, you know, except you sort of care for your dad and stuff. But I think the business, if it all goes to plan on here, you could probably generate a £77,000 profit out of the business every year.”

Katie appeared emotional as she expressed her delight that Matt could recognise the promise in her concept.

“I’m really excited about my business now,” she said. “Matt’s given me lots of ideas. I can’t believe he has worked out a five-year plan.”

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website

Rich House, Poor House airs on Channel 5

PSNI said: “Two bedrooms were ransacked”

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Detectives are appealing for information following a reported burglary in the Downing Park area of Portstewart last week.

Several items including an amount of cash were taken.

Detective Sergeant McKernan said: “The burglary is believed to have occurred at some point between 6pm and 10pm on Friday 13th March, when the property was unoccupied.

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“A pane in a rear door had been smashed to gain entry. Two bedrooms were ransacked and cash and jewellery stolen. “Our enquiries are ongoing and we would appeal to anyone who noticed anything suspicious in the area to contact us on 101, quoting reference 1646 13/03/26. We would also ask local residents to check their CCTV or doorbell footage.”“Alternatively, you can submit a report online. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online here.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

The kind of protests that loom large in the collective imagination tend to be compact and dramatic. Everybody to Kenmure Street, Felipe Bustos Sierra’s energising and inspiring film about a spontaneous act of collective civil disobedience in Glasgow, documents just such an event.

At a time when mobile phone footage shared by citizen activists is proving increasingly vital in holding authority to account, it also feels extraordinarily prescient. Most obviously in the US, where the film recently won the world cinema documentary special jury award for civil resistance at the Sundance Film Festival.

Bustos Sierra’s debut was the 2018 documentary Nae Pasaran, about a group of Scottish Rolls-Royce workers who, in 1974, refused to repair jet engines for the Chilean air force in protest against the violent Pinochet regime. It won a Bafta for best feature film. Unsurprisingly, Bustos Sierra handles his material with confidence.

Everybody to Kenmure Street begins with a black and white montage. Children play in the back courts of tenement slums. Suffragettes demand the right to vote. The intense heat of the Glasgow’s blast furnaces sends sparks flying. Crowds march against the installation of a nuclear deterrent on the Clyde. Riveters raise their hammers in synchronised rhythm in the city’s famous ship yards. Glasgow’s industrial heritage and its proud history of protest are established as the film’s backdrop.

As the film moves from black and white to colour, we find ourselves on a tenement-lined street in the Pollokshields area of the city. It is early morning on May 13 2021. An immigration enforcement vehicle has just pulled up on Kenmure Street, and two Indian men have been arrested for possible infringements.

Priti Patel, the UK home secretary, had been aggressively doubling down on the hostile environment promoted by her predecessor Theresa May. The dawn raid had been approved without the knowledge of the Scottish government in Holyrood because immigration legislation and policy are reserved to Westminster. Among other things, then, Everybody to Kenmure Street exposes some of the tensions in the devolution settlement.

This intrusion into one of Scotland’s most ethnically diverse areas, with a large Muslim population, on what also happened to be Eid al-Fitr – the feast day that celebrates the end of Ramadan – was understandably experienced by many as a deliberate provocation.

As Bustos Sierra’s evocative film documents, it quickly becomes the trigger for an extraordinary act of communal resistance. A kind of social media-enabled mass sit down, it results in an eight-hour stand-off with immigration officials and the police, and the eventual release, without charge, of the two men.

Making extensive use of donated mobile phone footage, Bustos Sierra documents the heartwarming combination of improvised tactics and community-based solidarity that won the day from the level of the street itself.

As the day progressed, the number of protestors grew from a handful to dozens, to hundreds and eventually a couple of thousand. Word spread and a number of well-known figures arrived on the scene, perhaps most significantly, the activist and human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar who eventually negotiated the men’s release.

The power of ordinary people

At its most affecting though, Everybody to Kenmure Street is a film about the decency and moral courage of ordinary Glaswegians. Having looked out of their windows and spotted the immigration van, a small number of residents decided to act.

They came out into the street, challenged the officials present, created an obstruction by sitting down, and began texting and posting on social media. Crucially, just after 9am an activist, known only as “Van Man”, crawled under the police vehicle and attached himself to the axle preventing the immigration officers from driving away.

His timely action allowed others to gather, and he was described by many as the hero of the day. Because he wishes to remain anonymous, his words are spoken, here, by the film’s executive producer, the actor and activist Emma Thompson, who looks directly to the camera while adopting a position that echoes the cramped conditions Van Man endured for eight hours.

The Scottish actor Kate Dickie similarly gives voice to the off-duty NHS worker who tended him for most of the day. “The fact that I’m a nurse,” she explains, “gives me a level of protection that other people wouldn’t experience”. It’s difficult to hear her words without thinking of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old intensive care nurse shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, in January of this year.

The absolute horror of events in that city make the dénouement of Bustos Sierra’s film all the more remarkable. Police Scotland, who by the end of the day were in attendance in high numbers, simply agreed to let the men go in order to avert any kind of violent confrontation.

If all this sounds wildly utopian, Bustos Sierra is careful not to allow his adopted home town to become too pleased with itself. Picking up on some of the threads laid down in the opening montage, he uses the middle section to stress Glasgow’s mixed legacies.

While the city’s radical tradition is certainly honoured, from its early opposition to apartheid to its proud history of trades unionism, the film also stresses that its mercantile and industrial wealth, like that of Bristol, Liverpool and London, was built on the labour of enslaved people.

In this way a connection is made between the brown men held in the van, who are victims of an aggressive immigration policy, and the historical victims of colonialism who were also predominantly people of colour.

Given that our news feeds are currently full of images reinforcing the reality that black and brown lives are less grievable than white ones, this connection seems an especially vital one to make. An important film, everybody should see Everybody to Kenmure Street.

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“Behind these numbers are people – some of them vulnerable – who are waiting far too long for the support they so desperately need.”

Psychiatrists have warned of a “workforce crisis” facing mental health services in Northern Ireland.

A survey carried out by the Royal College of Psychiatrists from all five health trusts found that 29% of consultant posts in the region were either vacant or covered by locum doctors in 2025, up from 25% in 2023.

The census also highlighted pressures among speciality and specialist (SAS) psychiatrists, senior doctors who work alongside consultants.

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It found there were 79 SAS psychiatrist posts across Northern Ireland in March 2025, with 52 filled by permanent doctors.

The remaining posts were either vacant or filled by temporary staff, meaning 34% of SAS roles were not permanently staffed, up from around 29% in 2023.

The college said the staffing pressures “come at a time when demand for mental health care is increasing”.

It also warned that Northern Ireland receives less funding per person for mental health services than other parts of the UK.

Dr Julie Anderson, chairwoman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Northern Ireland, said: “These figures show the true scale of the workforce pressures facing mental health services in Northern Ireland.

“They also highlight how increasingly difficult it is for mental health services to provide consistent, high-quality care for our patients, especially at a time when we’re being asked to do more and more with less, as a result of various initiatives.

“Behind these numbers are people – some of them vulnerable – who are waiting far too long for the support they so desperately need.”

She said early intervention “improves outcomes for individuals and can reduce future pressure on health services”.

Dr Anderson added: “Northern Ireland has historically faced years of chronic underfunding and despite having a greater mental health need, we continue to receive less funding than other parts of the UK.

“At the same time, we still don’t have comprehensive regional data on mental health waiting lists, meaning the true scale of unmet need remains very unclear.

“It’s clear things need to change – everyone should be working together to secure solutions to this continuing workforce crisis.”

The census was conducted by the Training and Workforce Unit of the Royal College of Psychiatrists between May and October 2025. All five health trusts participated in the survey.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

The new period drama is a reimagining of the world of Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of Mary Bennet

BBC viewers were thrilled to see a star from 1995 hit Pride and Prejudice in new period drama The Other Bennet Sister.

The series – which reimagines the world of Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of frequently overlooked middle daughter Mary Bennet – stars Call The Midwife‘s Ella Bruccoleri in the titular part. However, as the programme began, viewers realised that Mary’s ally Mrs Hill was portrayed by Lucy Briers, who played Mary in the 1995 BBC version of Jane Austen’s novel.

Several viewers shared comments on social media praising the “brilliant” casting choice, with one admitting it moved them to tears, reports the Mirror.

“Is Hill the original Mary? Please say she is – champagne casting!” one person posted on X when the series launched on Sunday (March 15).

“Ella Bruccoleri is fantastic as Mary and I love the link to the BBC adaptation of P&P with Lucy Briers as Mrs Hill (OG Mary),” another wrote on the platform, previously known as Twitter.

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“Ah wow, Hill is played by Lucy Briers, who played Mary in THE Pride and Prejudice,” remarked a third, whilst someone else observed: “What a lovely Easter egg.”

“Loving that Lucy Briers is the maid,” wrote one fan, as another commented: “I love that the original 1995 Mary is the lovely Hill in this show. Chapeau on the casting.”

“Welling up here,” confessed another viewer.

“Brilliant casting Lucy Briers (the original Mary) as Hill, the long suffering servant,” said a further viewer.

The Other Bennet Sister draws from Janice Hadlow’s novel and spans 10 episodes.

A synopsis reads: “Her journey sees her leave her family home for the soirées of Regency London and the peaks and vales of the Lake District, all in search of independence, self-love, and reinvention.”

“The series follows Mary as she steps out of her sisters’ shadows in search of her own identity and purpose, finding herself in the middle of an epic love story along the way,” it continues.

The supporting cast features Richard E Grant and Ruth Jones portraying Mr and Mrs Bennet, alongside Indira Varma and Richard Coyle as Mr and Mrs Gardiner. Laurie Davidson and Dónal Finn appear as Mary’s prospective romantic interests, Mr Ryder and Mr Hayward.

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.

The Other Bennet Sister airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

A total of 62 people, including eight children, have died after floods hit Kenya last week.

The capital Nairobi was the worst hit with 33 deaths, police said on Saturday.

It is up since the tally issued last week, which put the death toll at 42.

More than 2,000 families have been displaced across the country after days of intense rain.

Footage online shows cars being swept away in waist deep flash floods.

It has also forced disruption to flights from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, the biggest airport in East Africa.

Kenya is not the only country in the region to be affected.

Three days of mourning have been declared in neighbouring Ethiopia after 80 people died in landslides triggered by flooding.

Another 3,461 people have been displaced by the landslides, according to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.

Previous rain seasons have seen flooding, landslides and mudslides that have left hundreds of people dead and seen thousands of others displaced.

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The region is expected to see more rain and governments have urged residents to exercise caution.

Last month, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre said the March-April-May rainy season has a 45% chance of above-average rainfall across most countries in the region, including Ethiopia and Kenya, as well as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, South Sudan, Northern Somalia, and Djibouti.

A single mum from Cambridgeshire took part in a one-week life swap on the Channel 5 show

A single mum was emotional as she was gifted a family holiday and a big career boost in Rich House, Poor House.

Katie took part in the Channel 5 show with her two daughters, with the trio swapping homes – and lives – with a wealthy family from Norfolk for the week.

The family, who had been struggling financially and sometimes used a food bank when money was short, moved out of their three-bedroom home in Cambridgeshire and went to stay at Matt and Danni’s £1.2 million pad in Norfolk.

The families traded budgets, with parents-of-three Matt and Danni, who run a luxury mattress and bedding business, living on Katie’s £82.61 a week after bills, and Katie and her daughters Shelby and Dixie given £1,900 spending money for the week.

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During the moving episode, which aired on Sunday (March 15), Katie told how she was working four part-time jobs, including being a carer for her dad Ted, who had heart failure and is deaf and diabetic.

She also had an idea to build her own second hand clothes business, specialising in plus size outfits, with the help of mum Rosemary.

“It’s hard work trying to juggle earning a living and being a mum at the same time,” she said. “I’ve been using a food bank just to top up some shopping when I can’t afford it,” she added.

The show followed as Katie’s family had a taste of the high life, getting to splash out on takeaways and expensive clothes. Meanwhile Matt and Danni enjoyed staying in and playing board games with their children as they didn’t have the money to go out.

The couple also set about doing some repairs at Katie’s house, putting up a curtain in her bedroom window and painting the wooden staircase, which had been bare as Katie could not afford to decorate.

As the life swap came to an end, the families met for the first time. After discussing their experiences, Matt and Danni said they wanted to help Katie and her daughters Shelby and Dixie.

Katie looked emotional as Danni told her: “So we thought that it would be nice to pay for a family holiday for you guys on the Norfolk Broads on a boat for a week. You guys, and Ted and Rosemary as well, so that you can all be together.”

Matt added: “And also something that we’d like to do as well is help you with the business since you’ve already made such a great start. We would like to put £500 in for initial stock just to get up and running and going. And what you do need to do is focus your attention. So we’ve basically drawn a five year plan. And I think within a year, you can certainly be giving all the other jobs up, you know, except you sort of care for your dad and stuff. But I think the business, if it all goes to plan on here, you could probably generate a £77,000 profit out of the business every year.”

Katie looked tearful as she said she was pleased Matt could see the potential in her idea.

“I’m really excited about my business now,” she said. “Matt’s given me lots of ideas. I can’t believe he has worked out a five-year plan.”

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website

Rich House, Poor House airs on Channel 5