hunting as boxing day trail hunting as boxing day hunts gather across the uk. campaigners say the practice, which mimics banned fox hunting, is just a smokescreen for illegal activity, citing hundreds of reports of wildlife and public disruption. the labour government has pledged tougher laws, while ministers are considering harsher fines and prosecution for reckless hunting. however, the countryside alliance defends the practice, saying it's essential for rural life. well, at this stage no timeline has been given for when the crackdown will take effect. a woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died in a staffordshire village on christmas day. police were called early on wednesday morning where they found a man in his 30s in cardiac arrest. despite efforts to save him, he died shortly after. a post—mortem is set for later today. the 33 year old suspect, from cannock is in custody and a crime scene remains in place. officers have also said locals can expect a heightened police

presence in the area. dozens have survived a deadly plane crash in kazakhstan that claimed 38 lives. the azerbaijan airlines flight caught fire while attempting an emergency landing after being diverted due to fog. footage shows the plane landing at high speed before bursting into flames. its black box has been recovered. unconfirmed reports suggest a bird strike may have caused the crash. flights between baku and southern russia are now suspended as investigations are underway. 20 years on from the boxing day tsunami, victims and survivors are being remembered today. the 2004 disaster, triggered by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake, killed over 230,000 people across some 14 countries, displacing nearly 2 million. prime minister sir keir starmer has joined tributes, with commemorations held in indonesia's aceh province, where

thousands of unidentified victims are buried. commemorations are also taking place in sri lanka, where 35,000 people died, including, sadly, 1000 passengers who were killed when waves struck the ocean queen express train. and the boxing day sales are here, and shoppers are set to spend an average of £236 each, with £4.6 billion expected to change hands overall. barclays says most of that spending will be online, with practical items like food and kitchenware topping the list. despite the cost of living crisis, the forecast average spendis crisis, the forecast average spend is still £50 higher than before the pandemic. meanwhile, major retailers like john lewis and next will keep their physical stores closed today. but resale platforms say they're seeing a boost, with a third of shoppers looking for bargains on unwanted gifts to make their money stretch further. well, our reporter, will hollis is on the high street in nottingham for us with more on what people are spending today. >> we're expected to see about

22 million people shopping for boxing day sales, but only 14 million of those shoppers will actually be real people on the high street. that good chunk of about 8 million people will just be people that will be logging on online, tapping away and making their purchases online. because, as we say, many of the big retailers are staying closed. they would cite that it's because they want people to have more of a family experience, let their staff rest. >> that's the news on gb news. i'll be back with you at midday. next, though, a year in politics with chris hope for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com/alerts.

>> welcome to the year in politics with me. christopher hope, the political editor of gb news. what a year it's been. it's christmas, i'm here. my festive hat. but can you remember what happened the past 12 months over two shows? i'll take you down memory lane to recall those political moments of 2024. shall we have a look? and what a year it's been. remember rishi sunak? he was the prime minister at the start of 2024. >> so my new year's resolution is to keep driving forward. >> well, that didn't go as planned, which by the way. >> so let's stick to the plan that if we stick to the plan, we can deliver a brighter future for everyone. if we stick to our plan and if we stick to the plan, we can make sure that everyone has peace of mind that there's a brighter future for them and their family. but if we stick to the plan, i know that

we'll absolutely get there and deliver a brighter future for everyone in our country. >> but let's not get ahead of ourselves. january was mainly dominated by the post office scandal. >> mr speaker, this is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history. >> another big political issue that dominated our screens was, yes, you've guessed it right. the rwanda bill, which ping pong between the house of commons and the house of lords before eventually becoming law. >> good morning. the house of commons has spoken. the conservative party has come together. the rwandan. the bill has passed. it's now time for the lords to pass this bill, too. this is an urgent national priority. >> but not all conservative mps were behind this bill. >> to be honest with you, i don't think i could carry on in my role as deputy chairman of the conservative party when i fundamentally disagree with the bill. >> and boy, did this man give his party a headache. first, he had the tory whip suspended in

february, only to defect to reform uk the following march. but enough of lee anderson. rishi sunak could sense that his fate of staying on as pm beyond the end of this year was slipping away between his fingers. with two by—election defeats. >> we fought for every vote and we will fight for every vote at general election. people just feel really fed up. after 14 years of conservative government, it feels like nothing's working. people can't get gp appointments, hospital appointments, waiting lists are sky high and people want. people want change. >> but we also saw the return of george galloway to parliament and back in parliament. all hell broke loose when the speaker allowed a vote calling for a ceasefire in gaza. >> we could have shown the rest of the british parliament coming together to demand an end to the fighting now in gaza, much more

aid into gaza now, a release of the hostages now, and a ceasefire that could be observed by both sides and build into a lasting peace. instead, we've shown westminster, at its worst, descending into a row about procedure, with the conservatives boycotting their own vote, the snp walking out on their own debate. and this has done nothing to help the palestinians, and it's done nothing to advance the cause of peace. >> a historic moment was made when the devolved government of northern ireland was finally restored after many years. >> generally, i don't think many people thought this would ever happen. >> was there a moment at which you suddenly thought, what was the breakthrough moment? >> well, i well, there were. i thought we had a number of breakthrough moments, but they were lots of them turned into false dawns. so i got to the point where i was actually waiting for stormont to sit and elect a speaker, first minister and deputy first minister. so mine was yesterday, and there was a spring budget which saw the government cutting national

insurance by £0.02 with me to go over the events of the year are the associate editor of the daily mirror, kevin maguire , and daily mirror, kevin maguire, and the parliamentary sketchwriter of the daily mail, quentin letts. >> welcome both to gb news . >> welcome both to gb news. happy christmas. you can look happy, kevin. well, i'm always happy, kevin. well, i'm always happy when it's happy inside. >> can i be an associate? >> sketchwriter? yes. why not? yes. >> let me just present gets your job there. you see? that's how you get moved out from the daily mail. that's. look, it's been a busy year. i mean, an amazing yeah busy year. i mean, an amazing year. it started, didn't it, with the post office scandal. now, you guys have been around longer than i have in parliament. that's been bubbling under for 20 years. why is it suddenly a story, quentin? >> television. that was the only reason. i mean, been bubbling away and we had been reporting it. newspapers had been reporting it. even the electric television was reporting it a bit. and then suddenly itv drama happened. and when you put things into drama, it's really chastening for journalists. yes. puts things into a drama. there is a truth in drama, but there's also a reach. and that's what happened. people's imagination

was was grabbed. there'd been a lot of good journalism about it. computer weekly, private eye, daily telegraph and quentin's papen daily telegraph and quentin's paper, the daily mail. but it was it took a drama. it took actors to touch a nerve. and then it just erupted. >> it built around alan bates. he, of course, was this subpostmaster who refused to accept a pay off. he had done nothing accept a pay off. he had done nothin