>> good evening. i'm alex armstrong and this is ben leo tonight. but don't worry, ben will be back in a couple of weeks. he's taking some hard earned time off with his wife and kids. ben, if you're watching, have a good one, mate. but while ben's away, rest assured that you're going to get the same forthright opinions that ben bastions on this show from me coming up tonight on the show. >> ten minutes. that case never crossed my desk. >> a shame on both their houses, the tories and labour are playing a disgraceful game of politics, while victims sit voiceless on the sidelines and very difficult for us to think we should take back people. >> shamima begum and others are instinctively, instinctively. it's not something i want to do. >> yes, farage under fire. we've

got political heavyweights ben habib and gordon taylor going head to head , discussing nigel head to head, discussing nigel farage's position after he's allegedly faced misleading headunes allegedly faced misleading headlines and a slew of criticism. plus a cheeky treat, my criticism. plus a cheeky treat, my country, that i proudly represent. why was an essex councillor heckled for standing up for veterans and democracy? >> also no more empire. vladimir, you excuse my language. >> hello. boris has got some strong words of advice for putin and we've got our star panel joining us to give you all their opinions on the stories. tonight. we've got author and commentator louis oakley, political consultant suzanne evans, and journalist and broadcaster nina mischakoff. oh, and how do you think the victims of the la wildfires would feel if they saw this? >> couldn't carry my husband out of a fire, which my response is he got himself in the wrong

place if i have to carry him out of a fire. >> all that and more. get ready britain, here we go. have the two main political parties forgotten our brave veterans. but first, here's your news with will hollis. >> alex. thank you. your top story at 9:00, nigel farage has repeated a pledge that reform uk will pay for an inquiry into the grooming scandal if the government continues to reject calls. speaking at the party's nonh calls. speaking at the party's north west conference in chester, reform's leader said the abuse of children in towns across britain, predominantly perpetrated by men of pakistani heritage, was the most unique evil of his lifetime. he used

his speech to criticise both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, while renewing calls for a national inquiry into the grooming scandal and criticising division in the country of living in two tier. >> britain , had enough of two >> britain, had enough of two tier policing, had enough of two tier policing, had enough of two tier justice, tier policing, had enough of two tierjustice, had enough of us all being divided up. >> well, that speech comes as ten reform councillors in derbyshire leave the party over the leadership of nigel farage. meanwhile, the health secretary has warned the use of inflammatory language over grooming gangs risks vilifying entire communities. meanwhile, labour mp for liverpool walton, dan carden, has called for a national inquiry, the first from the party to break ranks, urging sir keir starmer to use the full power of the state to deliver justice in germany. the afd has

nominated co—leader alice weidel as chancellor candidate at a congress live streamed on elon musk's social media platform x, she promised to close the borders and abandon eu. eu climate policy, pledging to tear down windmills of shame. earlier, protesters clashed with delegates attending the congress in risor, the right leaning alternative for germany is polling at second ahead of the country's election in february. ukraine says its troops have taken two north korean soldiers prisoner in the kursk region. writing on x, president volodymyr zelenskyy said the wounded men who are fighting alongside russian forces are being treated and transported to kyiv, where journalists will be able to speak with them. some 10,000 north koreans are believed to be supporting putin's armies in the defence of russia. after ukraine's surprise incursion into its territory

earlier this year, carrie johnson spent almost a week in hospital with flu and pneumonia, struggling to breathe. the wife of former prime minister boris johnson wrote about her ordeal on instagram that she had not yet fully recovered from a chest infection, saying her strong advice was to get the flu jab, thanking nurses who cared for her, the number of patients in hospital with flu continues to rise. quadruple figures of last winter and finally temperatures dropped to —18.7 degrees in the uk's coldest january night for 15 years. last night, the met office says the temperature was recorded in the most northern region of the highlands. it's expected to stay chilly throughout the weekend, with an amber cold weather alert in place until tuesday. well, today football matches have been postponed. meanwhile, in derbyshire, gritters were

stopped from working by 200 cars double parked on a scenic route near edale. the county council turned to social media, asking visitors to the peak district to please move your cars. those are your latest headlines. now let's get you back to alex 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. >> british politics sank to another new low this week. both the conservatives and labour have turned this national epidemic of rape gangs into mere pawns. pawns in a political chess game. this isn't leadership, it's cynicism, and it's a betrayal of our society's most vulnerable. first, let's look at the conservatives. they've pushed for a national

inquiry into the grooming gang scandal. and i agree an inquiry is absolutely needed. but let's be clear their move wasn't about justice. it was about headlines and political point scoring. they chose the day parliament was debating crucial child safeguarding measures, measures that could have saved the lives like that of syria. sara sharif, a ten year old victim of our failing system. instead of supporting these immediate protections, the tories decided to play politics. they voted against the bill, lost their amendment and in doing so, lost the chance to make real progress for children at risk. it wasn't just a misstep, it was a moral failure, leaving the victims forgotten again. but don't mistake my criticism of the tories for support for labour's position. they've completely repelled the idea of a new inquiry, claiming previous ones were sufficient but sufficient.

for whom? certainly not for the victims who still await justice. the heavily criticised independent investigation into child sexual abuse report only focused on six case study areas, where there were no significant reports of grooming gangs. so is that sufficient in any way possible? no, not in my opinion. dufing possible? no, not in my opinion. during the house of commons debate on wednesday, both sides hypocrisy was on full display yet again. labour employed implored the conservatives to support what they called a crucial bill enforcing strict party discipline with a three line whip. yet key figures, including the prime minister, didn't even show up to vote. how can leaders who skip votes on crucial legislation at a time like this lead our country? it is shameless. it seems to me that labour are more concerned with their own political fallout

than they are about real justice for the victims. let's not forget many of the frontbench ministers and secretaries of state are at risk of losing their seats to the muslim vote. but more importantly, labour could call a national inquiry today. today, no vote is needed in the house of commons to do this. well. reform uk, of course, have been critical of both major political parties. they backed the tory amendment, but nigel farage called the vote insincere. reform, of course, is the only major uk party to mention the grooming gang epidemic in their manifesto. and today zia yousef, the party chairman, also recommitted to their earlier pledge, claiming that they will hold a private inquiry into grooming gangs if labour doesn't launch a national one. look, i want to be frank with everybody tonight. reform will be under the same scrutiny to deliver on their promises, not just by me, but by you at

home. the entire british public. words will not cut it any more. this scandal is not going to go away, no matter how hard political parties, mps and the establishment try to brush it out of the public discourse. these victims will not be silenced again. we are giving them a platform and a voice, and we're not going to stop talking about it. these victims deserve better. they deserve justice, accountability, and politicians to act beyond mere words. if our political establishment cannot rise above petty squabbles to deliver justice, do they deserve the trust of you, the british people? i am now joined by former labour adviser matthew torbitt, now matthew, as prussia's amounting onto the pm at the moment. look, is it a sustainable position he can he can hold himself into? sustainable position he can he can