:00:25. > :00:30.Good afternoon. A leading credit agency says that
:00:30. > :00:35.it is considering downgrading the credit worthiness of six countries
:00:35. > :00:39.that use the Euro. It claims that a solution to Europe's debt crisis is
:00:39. > :00:43.beyond reach. The agency, Fitch, says it is not convinced that a
:00:43. > :00:46.political solution can be found to the crisis, it says it is
:00:46. > :00:51.considering downgrading the status of eurozone countries, including
:00:51. > :00:55.Italy and Spain. Here is Joe Lynam. A few days before Christmas and the
:00:55. > :01:00.shoppers are feeling the chill physically and economically. It is
:01:00. > :01:03.no season of goodwill from the credit ratings agencies, the
:01:03. > :01:09.companies that assess the health or otherwise of companies and
:01:09. > :01:14.countries. Fimp Fitch has given its most pes mystic assessment of the
:01:14. > :01:21.eurozone. Saying that the chances of finding a comprehensive solution
:01:21. > :01:25.is technically beyond reach it placed Italy, Spain, Belgium,
:01:25. > :01:30.Slovenia and Ireland on negative watch, meaning that the cost of
:01:30. > :01:34.brogue may rise higher and thus deepening the crisis further. The
:01:34. > :01:37.former Chancellor stayed was an ominous side.
:01:37. > :01:41.I think that this must be taken seriously by the eurozone. So far
:01:41. > :01:46.they have been in a state of denial about the nature of the crisis and
:01:46. > :01:50.the extent of the crisis. The credit rating agency may be
:01:50. > :01:54.right, it may be wrong, but the fact that people hold this opinion
:01:54. > :01:56.it needs to be taken extremely seriously.
:01:56. > :02:02.Meanwhile, countries within the eurozone as well as nine others are
:02:02. > :02:06.working on a treaty to save the single currency with much tougher
:02:06. > :02:13.rules for borrowing and budgets, but will it succeed? It is a
:02:13. > :02:17.problem. It is an agreement to have so many issues between so many
:02:17. > :02:21.countries. To have majority within all of these countries is difficult
:02:21. > :02:25.to do, but the crisis is so dangerous for everyone within the
:02:25. > :02:28.Euro or outside of the Euro that we should find a solution that has
:02:28. > :02:32.contribute for the markets. While most Europeans are looking
:02:32. > :02:35.forward to the holiday season, many do so with a sense of foreboding
:02:35. > :02:39.about what is happening economically and politically all
:02:39. > :02:43.around them. David Cameron has said that Britain
:02:43. > :02:49.should not be afraid to call itself a Christian country. In his speech
:02:49. > :02:52.to church leaders in Oxford he said that bog "morally neutral"
:02:52. > :02:56.concerning issues such as the financial crisis and the terrorist
:02:56. > :02:59.threat is no longer an option. The Prime Minister said that promoting
:02:59. > :03:04.Christian values does not demean other faiths.
:03:04. > :03:08.So, why is he saying this, Alan? recent months, Dr Rowan Williams
:03:08. > :03:12.has been among those in the Church who has been critical of the
:03:12. > :03:17.Government's public spending cuts. David Cameron, part lir, I think
:03:17. > :03:21.has in mind in making the comments does not want his Government
:03:21. > :03:24.policies to be seen at odds with Christian beliefs and valuables,
:03:25. > :03:28.but there are many politicians who would not go anywhere near talking
:03:28. > :03:31.about religion, but he thinks that they are wrong, that they should do.
:03:31. > :03:37.Not that he believes that everyone should abChristian. He says that
:03:37. > :03:40.there are similar values in most faiths and even those without a
:03:40. > :03:45.faith share the same moral values, but he said after the riots in
:03:45. > :03:52.August, after the MPs' expenses scandal, the excesss in the City of
:03:52. > :03:56.London, even religious extremism being tolerated, as he sees it, and
:03:57. > :04:01.pile being unable to speak out about it, that something must be
:04:01. > :04:06.done. It chimes with when he talks about the Big Society, the greater
:04:06. > :04:11.sense of compassion for people. That is where the church is coming
:04:11. > :04:16.in. That it is OK for the Church to have their own say, on what is
:04:16. > :04:20.being said in Government, but that they have a job to do as well.
:04:20. > :04:25.More than 180 people have been killed and hundreds more are
:04:25. > :04:29.missing after a storm caused floods on the Philippines island of
:04:29. > :04:34.Mindano. It has been said that whole
:04:34. > :04:40.villages have been swept out to sea and a large proportion of those
:04:40. > :04:45.killed are children. The UK's fishing fleets face fewer days at
:04:45. > :04:48.sea but bigger catch quotas. There are to be increases in cod
:04:49. > :04:54.and haddock, but some fishing communities in Scotland remain
:04:54. > :04:58.unhappy about the number of days that they can spend at sea. Britain
:04:58. > :05:02.stayed had the support of France and Germany in battle against cuts
:05:02. > :05:09.that could have been disastrous for the UK fishing fleet. One of the
:05:09. > :05:13.proposals to cut cod fishermen's days at sea to a fortnight. That
:05:13. > :05:17.threat is lefted, but Richard Lochhead said that big challenges
:05:17. > :05:22.remain. The European approach is to not to
:05:22. > :05:26.let us go to sea unless we catch cod, but we argue to go to sea,
:05:26. > :05:31.avoiding the cod and catching other stock. That argument is there. It
:05:31. > :05:34.is causing huge problems for Scotland and the UK as well.
:05:34. > :05:41.Richard Benyon said that allowable catches for a number of species
:05:41. > :05:45.would go up. Fishing in the north- east of England would double for
:05:45. > :05:50.herring and haddock caught off the west coast much Scotland would
:05:50. > :05:54.treble. Some fishing stock in some areas has been covered well, but it
:05:54. > :05:59.is a complicated picture. Within the last few minutes in Edinburgh,
:05:59. > :06:04.Labour has elected its new leader in Scotland. Let me show you the
:06:04. > :06:09.live pictures coming from there. That is Johann Lamont who has won
:06:09. > :06:13.from among three candidates. She says that her priorities are
:06:13. > :06:16.tacklingout unemployment, creating jobs, growing the economy and
:06:16. > :06:22.providing support for carers. It is the busiest shopping weekend
:06:22. > :06:26.of the year as millions head out to finish off or in some cases start
:06:26. > :06:31.our Christmas present shopping. It is estimated that the tills are to
:06:31. > :06:35.ring at over �1 million a minute today. Our correspondent is in
:06:35. > :06:40.London's Covent Garden this lunch time. How busy is it there Rebecca?
:06:40. > :06:45.Well, the retailers are pulling out the stops to attract the shoppers
:06:45. > :06:49.this weekend. Who could miss out on the opportunity to meet these chaps
:06:49. > :06:54.this weekend? 11 million are expected to hit the shops here
:06:54. > :06:59.today. It is estimated we will spend up to