inquiry into the rape national inquiry into the rape gangs. i'm asking you. will it happen and get this? >> so, mark my words, britain will be one of the great ai superpowers. >> yes, the technology of ai will be mainlined into our veins. are you actually on board with that or not? and brace yourself. are you sitting down? everybody? because many of you are about to found yourself agreeing with tony blair. he says that we're overmedicalising the ups and downs of life. do you think we've all got a bit too far with our obsession with mental health? and the man has been charged with attempted murder after leaving a nurse with life changing injuries. it got me thinking, you know, and personally, i'd like to see a total ban on nhs use for anybody who deliberately assaults nhs workers. your thoughts? on all of that? and lots more coming up tonight. my panel a new face to

this programme. will kingston, the podcast host and broadcaster scarlett mccgwire alongside him. but before we get stuck in, let's cross live for the 6:00 news headlines. >> michelle, thank you and good evening. my name is katie bowen and these are your latest headunes and these are your latest headlines from the gb newsroom. speaking in the house of commons a short time ago, home office minister jess phillips said work to implement recommendations made by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse will be completed as quickly as can possibly be done. that comes as also this afternoon, the labour mp for rotherham, sarah champion, has called for a national inquiry into grooming gangs. in a statement posted to x, the mp said that local inquiries do not have the power to compel witnesses or evidence and would not satisfy the public concern of cover ups. over the weekend, another labour mp, dan carden, also broke ranks with sir keir starmer to call for an inquiry. he's urging the prime minister to use the full power

of the state to deliver justice. meanwhile, sir keir starmer says he's completely confident in his team, with his spokesman saying this afternoon that rachel reeves will stay on as chancellor until the next general election following turmoil in the markets. the pm's official spokesman added that sir keir starmer has full confidence in rachel reeves, and he will be working with her for the whole of the parliament. in the whole of the parliament. in the past week, there's been a drop in the pound and an increase in borrowing costs, with downing street saying nothing is off the table as government departments consider where to cut spending. ms reeves has been in china bolstering ties with the nation, which senior cabinet minister pat mcfadden has today said was in the national interest. shadow business secretary andrew griffith said that the chancellor failed to make some vital decisions in her budget. the prime minister says ai is a force for change that will transform the lives of working people for the better. in a speech this afternoon, sir keir

starmer promised investment, jobs and economic growth due to a boom in the sector. labour claim that if ai is fully embraced, it could bring £47 billion to the economy every yeah billion to the economy every year. well, shadow technology secretary alan mach has accused labour of squandering the position it inherited from the previous government with al. officials in los angeles said at a press conference this afternoon that severe fire weather conditions will continue until wednesday. la mayor karen bass said that close to hurricane force winds have been predicted. at least 24 people have been killed and thousands evacuated as fires rage on in california. 23 people, all adults, remain missing and more than 92,000 people are currently under evacuation orders, officials have said. la county sheriff robert luna also added that at least 34 people have been arrested. meanwhile, us president elect donald trump has called politicians in california

incompetent over their handling of the fires. and finally, former heavyweight world champion tyson fury has announced he is retiring from boxing. in a video posted on social media this afternoon. the 36 year old lost his second fight with current titleholder oleksandr usyk last month in saudi arabia. fury had previously said he had no intention of retiring after his defeat to usyk in december. those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, let's go back to michelle 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. >> thank you very much for that. i'm michelle dewberry and i'm keeping you company until 7:00 tonight. and happy monday to you

all alongside me. new face onto this program. will kingston. he's a podcast host and broadcaster. in fact, you present gb news saturday night. >> yeah, i'm part of the saturday five gang 6 pm. on gb news. we're going to three hours on saturday night, so, you know, too much is never enough. >> there you go. so if you're sitting there saying, who is this fella you've been missing out, what have you been doing with your saturday nights if you've not already been watching him? there you go. you can change and you can start from next saturday alongside him. officially, you'll be perhaps more familiar with on this show. some of you perhaps will be reaching for your blood pressure tablets already just at the mere sight of her. it's scarlett mccgwire, the former labour adviser. good evening to both of you. you're very welcome tonight. good evening. if you're not already clutching for your blood pressure tablets, you will be a bit later on in the programme. when i tell you that many of you will find yourselves agreeing with tony blair tonight. yes, you heard me right. i'll explain all a bit later on in the programme. and as always, you're very, very welcome. you can get in touch with me all the usual ways. you

can email gb views @gbnews. com you can go to the website gbnews.com/yoursay. or of course you can tweet or you can text me wherever you're watching and listening. you are very, very welcome tonight. now i want to start talking about these rape gangs. i find myself feeling more optimistic this week and that's always good, isn't it? in this doom and gloom world, it's always good to have a bit of optimism. and the reason why i feel optimistic is because i feel optimistic is because i feel like we are finally in a situation where we will, in my humble opinion, find ourselves in a situation where we will be heading towards a national inquiry for these rape gangs. i think it's long overdue. many of these girls have just been failed for so many years now. we know about that. the reason i'm feeling optimistic and you tell me whether or not you agree with me whether or not you agree with me at home is because sarah champion, the labour mp for rotherham, you know, she's got a huge history in this situation. many of you will remember the article that she wrote in the sun newspaper speaking out very, very tough about this. this was back in, i think, 2017. well,

anyway, she has announced her support today for a national inquiry. she's published a five point plan as part of that. it does feel, you know, like there's momentum now. you've had of course, we saw andy burnham, we've had dan caddell, paul waugh, there's all these different mps now going against the labour official position. do you think we're getting somewhere, do you think? >> well, i hope so, michelle, because we can't let this just fall out of the news cycle without action like it has so many times before. it would be a betrayal to victims both from the past and sadly, victims still to come because this is still to come because this is still very much an ongoing problem. i think it is very important for us to keep in mind why it is important to have a national inquiry. and there's obviously the procedural side to say that you can compel people to actually appear in a way you can't with local inquiries. but the fact of the matter is that there are so many problems which are national in scope that need to be discussed, which you don't

discuss in a local level, whether it be how we think about multiculturalism, whether it be how we think about immigration, or whether it be the fact that these gangs operate through national networks, it doesn't just stop and start and end in rotherham or start and end in bradford. these are national networks that require national conversations. >> this is incredibly important. hean >> this is incredibly important. hear, hear. to that. get your thoughts in and i'll bring you into the conversation in a second. scarlett mccgwire the last time you was in, i gave you a little bit of homework. i was saying to you, suggesting to you to read some of these transcripts, to perhaps look at some of the examples, the details