tv, online and on digital on tv, online and on digital radio. i'm nana akua. over the next few hours, me and my panel will be taking on some of the big topics hitting the headlines. right now. this show is all about opinion. it's mine, it's theirs. and of course it's yours. we'll be debating, discussing and at times we will disagree, but no one will be cancelled. so joining me for the next few hours, political commentator claire muldoon and also political commentator andy williams. coming up, rachel reeves says there's no choice but to engage with china as she seeks to restart britain's formal economic relationship with the nation. she's there with the nation. she's there with her begging bowl, leaving us all behind. so i'm asking, should rachel reeves actually be in china whilst the pound plummets and the poll is live on the gb news website? head over there right now and vote. then nigel farage will be speaking live from reform uk's conference in about half an hour's time. we'll have that live for you here. all of this comes as ten

reform councillors have resigned in a bid to get farage to stand down as the party leader. who's going to take his place if that's the case. so later on in this programme, i will ask him directly after his talk at the nonh directly after his talk at the north west conference, and i'll bnng north west conference, and i'll bring you the latest on the story that has shamed the nation, the rape gang scandal. gb news is relentless. reporter charlie peters joins me ahead of his documentary, which airs tonight at 8:00. then difficult conversations khadija khan, a pakistani activist who has accused sir keir starmer of silencing the whole debate on grooming gangs. she'll be joining me in the studio live. it's a busy show. but before we get started, let's get your latest news with will hollis. >> nana. thank you. breaking news for you in this hour. a migrant has died while trying to cross the channel from france to the uk. more than 30 people were rescued after a boat got into

difficulty overnight. the migrant from syria was reportedly crushed by others on board a leaky dinghy. a government spokesperson who confirmed the deaths said the tragedy underlines the terrible dangers of small boat crossings. more on this as it comes into the newsroom . reform uk party the newsroom. reform uk party chairman zaheer yusuf has vowed to tackle grooming gangs head on if they win the next election. speaking at the north west party conference, he called once again for a national inquiry. the health secretary has warned the use of inflammatory language over grooming gangs risks vilifying entire communities. he also says he fears rhetoric could lead to atrocities similar to the christchurch mosque shootings in new zealand, which killed more than 50 people. wes streeting told the guardian newspaper there are people in my community who have either

pakistani heritage or look different, who are now more fearful today than they were before. >> overall, this government's re—engagement with china already sets us on course to deliver up to £1 billion of value for the uk economy. this includes across our financial services, in which the uk is a global leader. financial services are the engine which power prosperity and growth through deep and liquid capital markets. our two countries share great pre—existing links in this area as the highlight of our bilateral economic relationship. >> that was the chancellor, rachel reeves, there, talking about the new uk china relationship. the british government's independent terrorism legislation reviewer says politicians need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture when it comes to stateless persons and the balance of national security.

his comments come after reform uk leader nigel farage said he'd been thoughtful when asked if the uk should consider bringing shamima begum back to the uk. this is what farage has said. i've never wanted to. i've instinctively never wanted to, but i'm now thoughtful. i'm thoughtful. i don't classify her as an isis, as isis, but not an all out isis killer. so she's sort of less she is a lesser part of the equation. this comes after us president elect donald trump's incoming counter—terror chief said that is, members in syria should be allowed home. reports have suggested. reform uk said that the uk government should consider allowing begum, who left the country to join the islamic state group in 2015, to return to the uk. but nigel was forced to hit back at the reports, writing on social media ihave reports, writing on social media i have never wanted to allow shamima begum back into britain,

as i literally say in this interview. in other news for you now. los angeles authorities have declared a local health emergency for the whole county due to poor air quality, as fire and smoke has blanketed the area. 11 people have now died and over 10,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed. california's governor has called for an independent investigation into how critical fire hydrants ran out of water and became impaired. temperatures dropped to —18.7 degrees in the uk's coldest january for 15 years . coldest january for 15 years. last night, the met office says the temperature was recorded in the temperature was recorded in the most northern region of the highlands. it's the coldest january overnight temperature since 2010, when temperatures dropped below —15 several times across the uk. much of the uk endured below freezing temperatures overnight, dropping to —11 in shap and cumbria, with

heathrow recording minus five degrees. those are your latest headunes degrees. those are your latest headlines for now. i'll have more in half an hour 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. >> good afternoon and welcome to gb news. we are britain's news channel. i'm nana akua. we're live on tv, online and on digital radio now. coming up, rachel reeves says there's no choice but to engage with china as she seeks to restart britain's formal economic relationship with the nation. some may say that she's running away. remember that song, bob marley? you're running and running away, but you can't run away from yourself. then for the great british debate this hour, i'm asking, should rachel reeves actually be in china? whilst the poundis actually be in china? whilst the pound is plummeting, the poll is live on the gb news website.

please head over there. vote now. nigel farage will be speaking live from reform uk's conference in about half an houn conference in about half an hour. we will bring that to you live. all of this comes as ten reform councillors have resigned in a bid to get nigel to stand down as the party's leader, but the question is who would take his place? all of that is on the way. as ever, send me your thoughts, post your comments gbnews.com/yoursay. so, seven minutes after 3:00, rachel reeves says there's no choice but to engage with china as she seeks to restart our formal economic relationship with china. now, the chancellor says that the agreements reached with china today were worth £600 million to the uk over the next five years. >> overall, this government's re—engagement with china already sets us on course to deliver up to £1 billion of value for the

uk economy. this includes across our financial services, in which the uk is a global leader. financial services are the engine which power prosperity and growth through deep and liquid capital markets. our two countries share great pre—existing links in this area as the highlight of our bilateral economic relationship. >> but with teachers planning strike and also with the inflation busting pay rises that they initially gave to train drivers and doctors, farmers protesting more planned because of inheritance tax. third private school of the week is closed because of that. businesses are breaking under the weight of national insurance, business rates, minimum wage, etc. etc. this the right time for rachel reeves to be jetting off to china? joining me now, adam cherry, gb news reporter adam. hello. what are you hearing? what are the murmurings? what are people saying about her going to china? was this the right move?

>> well, i mean, it is an interesting question, isn't it? because on the one hand. yeah. or all the factors you've mentioned the pound being very weak, cost of borrowing up to, i think a 27 year high inflation now looking like it's going to remain quite sticky. you think okay, this is looking like a bit of a tinderbox. you should probably stay behind as the chancellor. you know, let's not forget that the governor of the bank of england is also over there as well. so two of the most senior, there's three of them there. yeah. so the most senior financial authorities or figures in the country are out of the country whilst this is going on. so there is an argument that she must return and stabilise things. but then also i spoke to alice denby on 1497 00:09:34,9