As others have indicated, a VHS VCR uses its OWN built-in tuner to provide a signal to the recording part of the machine (and NOT the tuner in the TV set that it then feeds a signal to).
To the best of my knowledge, no VCR was ever manufactured with a DIGITAL tuner inside it, so ALL VCRs ceased to be able to RECORD programmes (other than as below) when the digital switchover was completed back in 2012. (However VCRs can still PLAY tapes, as that doesn't required the use of a tuner circuit).
The only way you can use a VCR to record TV programmes is to provide a signal from another device that's got a digital tuner built into it. A Freeview set-top box is such a device. The aerial is connected to the set-top box, with channel selection being accomplished via that box. The output from the set-top box is then fed to the input of the VCR. (If the VCR has a Scart input, hen a Scart-to-Scart cable can be used. However most VCRs only have Scart OUTPUTS, and NOT inputs. So it's necessary to use a Scart-to-Phono lead and the RCA input on the VCR). Then the VCR is set to record from an external source (typically indicated by 'Aux', 'Ext' or something similar), rather than from any numbered channel.