£3] billion in eye—watering £3] billion in this year's sales. and it's also a big day for premier league football, with manchester united hoping to turn around their fortunes and liverpool looking to extend their lead at the top of the table. i'll be joined by aidan magee for all the latest sports news. now earlier today, reform uk announced that they have overtaken the conservative party in terms of membership numbers. is this a sign that nigel farage is expected to head to number 10 at the next election? well, i hope you had a very merry christmas yesterday and that you're eating all your leftovers today. i've just had mine for lunch. as always during the show, please do send your views and post your comments by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay. but first of all, here are the headunes first of all, here are the headlines with sam francis.

>> miriam, thank you and good afternoon to you. just coming up to 3:02 and a very happy boxing day to you. well, a plane that crashed, killing 38 people was shot down by russian air defence systems, according to sources. speaking to the reuters news agency. the azerbaijan airlines plane had been flying east across the caspian sea when it changed course and went down in kazakhstan. footage circulating onune kazakhstan. footage circulating online shows the plane making a steep descent before crashing into a fireball, with part of its fuselage torn away from its wings. we've also heard from the broadcaster euronews in the last hour or so, citing azerbaijani government sources reporting that after a preliminary investigation, a russian surface to air missile they say was fired towards a plane during drone activity in the sky that then exploded next to the aircraft, with the shrapnel reportedly hitting passengers

and crew in that aircraft. so an investigation now underway into the circumstances of that disaster. but as i say, the latest details coming to us from sources speaking to the reuters news agency that a russian air defence system is responsible for shooting down that passenger aircraft. and in some more breaking news to bring you. here at home, 451 migrants crossed the english channel illegally on christmas day yesterday, according to official figures from the home office. out in the last few minutes, six more small boats carrying at least 250 migrants have reached uk waters today. the latest arrivals have been brought to the border force processing centre in dover, and with calmer weather conditions expected to continue, border force is now on heightened alert for a potential further surge in crossings. the situation is also being closely monitored as authorities brace for more arrivals in the coming days.

reform uk's membership has overtaken the conservatives just months after nigel farage's return as leader. the party's tracker shows more than 132,000 members. now that's a 300% surge since farage's comeback in june. young supporters, cheaper fees and frustrations with the tories are all driving the growth, with farage claiming that reform is the future of british politics. it comes as the conservatives last reported around 120,000 members, but have since faced criticism for a lack of direction under kemi badenoch. well, the reform leader, nigel farage, has been speaking to our home and security editor, mark white, and gave us these thoughts about those figures. >> incredible. over 15,000 people have joined us and given us their 25 quids over the last four days. this is an historic moment when the newest party in british politics overtakes the oldest existing political party in the world, something is happening. so of course, i'm delighted. >> a double murder investigation

has been launched in milton keynes after two women have died , keynes after two women have died, following reports of a stabbing there. thames valley police say there. thames valley police say the woman, aged 38. the other 24, both died at the scene in bletchley on christmas day. we've also heard that a teenage boy and a man in his late 20s are also seriously injured following that incident, but are currently stable in hospital. a dog was also injured in the incident, taken to vets but sadly didn't survive. police have arrested a 49 year old man on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, and he remains in custody. the government is facing mounting pressure to deliver on its promise to ban trail hunting, as boxing day hunts have gathered across the uk today. campaigners say the practice, which mimics banned fox hunting, is a smokescreen for illegal activity, citing hundreds of reports of wildlife and public disruption. labour has pledged tougher laws, while ministers say they're considering harsher fines and prosecution rules for reckless hunting. but the countryside

alliance defends the practice, saying it's essential for rural life at this stage. no timeline has been given for when the crackdown may take effect. well, we can go back now to nigel farage. he's been speaking, as i say, to our home and security edhon say, to our home and security editor, mark white in chiddingstone about that. >> whether you support fox hunting or not. as i say, it has now become the tip of the iceberg in a much bigger issue about the way in which rural communities are being shut out. their opinions are being ignored. and we hear a lot about two tier britain. well, this is very two tier. if you're in the big cities, you matter if you're living out in villages like this, increasingly it feels like you don't. and i do think i do think and we've seen the farming protests taking off around the country. peaceful farming protests. i do think you're going to get labour mps representing these seats feeling very twitchy, and boxing day shoppers seem to be avoiding the high street, with footfall down reportedly over 12% compared to last year's figures. >> retail parks have fared slightly better, but overall

activity across the whole of the uk is more than 10% lower than in 2023. analysts are blaming the shift to online shopping, rising costs for physical stores and changing habits driven by year round promotions. barclays, though, estimates we will still be spending £4.6 billion today, but most of it, as in previous years, will be online. well, our reporter, will hollis, has been on the high street in nottingham for us today with more details on what people are spending. >> 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. >> those are the latest headunes >> those are the latest headlines for now. i'll be back with you in around half an hour. now, though, it's over to miriam 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 back, and let's return now to the story about the azerbaijan airlines plane that crashed sadly on christmas day yesterday, killing 38 people. according to the reuters news agency, the plane was shot down by a russian air defence system and footage online does show the plane making a steep descent before crashing into a fireball, with part of its fuselage torn away from the wings. now joining us now to discuss this crash and its potential causes. we have former british army. army spokesman major mike shearer joining

british army. army spokesman major mike shearerjoining us now. mike, thank you so much for joining us. certainly a lot of speculation now that this plane may actually have been shot down by russian air defence systems. do you think that's likely. have the russian authorities said anything about this? >> well, i'm afraid it is speculation at the moment, but it is more probable that it is has been an error by the russians than it was a bird strike. and the reported dialogue coming from the cockpit to air traffic control would suggest that it was more than just a bird strike. and i guess it just really demonstrates how nervous russia are in the southern end of their country, because we do know that there were drones, active ukrainian drones active in the area. >> yes, of course, a very difficult part of the world. and understandably, the russians are not going to confirm or deny anything. but there are there is

footage circulating online showing what appears to be shots, or perhaps shell and injuries to the plane. and given that the russians aren't going to confirm or deny it, do you think we will find out any more information about this crash? >> yes, almost certainly. we will get to the bottom of this. first of all, and thankfully, there are a number of survivors who will be able to give 1499 0