:00:22. > :00:27.Good afternoon. The Prime Minister says in his new year message that
:00:27. > :00:30.Britain is heading in the right direction. David Cameron says the
:00:30. > :00:34.country is making tangible progress and people can look forward to next
:00:34. > :00:40.year with optimism. Labour said Mr Cameron is out of touch and the
:00:40. > :00:45.economy is failing under his policies. Robin Brant reports.
:00:45. > :00:50.Looking back on 2012, David Cameron admits it was a tough year, but do
:00:50. > :00:55.not expect a new year, new me from the Prime Minister. The coalition
:00:55. > :00:58.will push on with its plan, and he believes things will get better.
:00:58. > :01:02.can look to the future with a realism and optimism. Realism
:01:02. > :01:07.because you cannot cure problems that were decades in the making
:01:07. > :01:11.overnight. There are no quick fixes, and I would not claim otherwise.
:01:11. > :01:15.But we can be optimistic, too, because we are making tangible
:01:15. > :01:19.progress. The highlights what he believes have been the Government's
:01:19. > :01:25.key achievements, the deficit reduced by a quarter, hundreds of
:01:25. > :01:29.new, or independent academies to replace schools, and an increase in
:01:29. > :01:33.the state pension. No mention of the disastrous budget, though. DPM
:01:33. > :01:37.is optimistic because he has got to be. The coalition government is not
:01:37. > :01:42.even halfway through its age of austerity yet, with eight years of
:01:42. > :01:44.tax rises predicted. David Cameron believes it is essential, if the UK
:01:44. > :01:48.is to keep up with the rest of the world.
:01:48. > :01:53.The running shoes were back on in spite of a knee injury over
:01:53. > :01:57.Christmas. He thinks there is no time to spare. Britain is in a
:01:57. > :02:02.global razed to succeed, a razed with countries like China, India
:02:02. > :02:07.and Indonesia, a race for the jobs and opportunities of the future, so
:02:07. > :02:11.when people say we can slow down on cutting our debt, we say no, we
:02:11. > :02:17.cannot win in this world with a great millstone of debt around our
:02:17. > :02:21.necks. The millstone of debt is what underpins it all, but the
:02:21. > :02:25.Prime Minister does not want people thinking that the government is
:02:25. > :02:28.just about the deficit. Labour has condemned the message has more of
:02:28. > :02:32.the same from a prime minister who has failed to deliver.
:02:32. > :02:35.The body of a young woman who died after being raped on a bus in Delhi
:02:35. > :02:39.has been cremated. The medical student died in a Singapore
:02:39. > :02:43.hospital where she was being treated. The attack sparked
:02:43. > :02:47.protests across the country about attitudes to women in India. Andrew
:02:47. > :02:50.North reports from Delhi. They have called her India's
:02:50. > :02:56.daughter, the protesters are keeping up their calls for an end
:02:56. > :03:00.to the repressive attitudes to women in the country. Many here
:03:00. > :03:05.identified closely with the 23- year-old, their friends described
:03:05. > :03:10.her as a modern student. It was a return in the dark as for her body
:03:10. > :03:13.two weeks since she was raped on a night-time bus. India's most senior
:03:13. > :03:17.leaders came to the airport to receive the flight. There was a
:03:17. > :03:22.heavy police presence for her funeral, anxious about further
:03:22. > :03:26.protest. The Government promises a fast trial for the six men accused
:03:26. > :03:34.of their rape and now murder. Women say enforcing the law will not be
:03:34. > :03:38.enough. They are talking about the judiciary, convictions, and that
:03:38. > :03:41.will act as a deterrent, but the key point that remains, are we
:03:41. > :03:45.ready to change our mindset where we say that women cannot be
:03:45. > :03:49.objective fide customer as protests continued, the soul-searching
:03:49. > :03:57.begins. Many say that India has little hope of realising its
:03:57. > :04:01.ambitions until it treats women The Bishop of Sheffield has led
:04:01. > :04:06.prayers for a church organist who died after being attacked on
:04:06. > :04:09.Christmas Eve. Alan Greaves, 68, had been on his way to Midnight
:04:09. > :04:13.Mass in High Green, where the service was held. He sustained head
:04:13. > :04:18.injuries and died on Thursday. Two men are in custody after being
:04:18. > :04:22.arrested on suspicion of his murder. Most people spend less on Christmas
:04:22. > :04:25.shopping this year than last according to research by a consumer
:04:25. > :04:29.group. The study also found that nearly half of consumers used
:04:29. > :04:34.credit cards, overdrafts and other forms of borrowing to help fund
:04:34. > :04:37.purchases. Theo Leggett reports. In the week before Christmas, the
:04:37. > :04:41.crowds were out in force and the tills were ringing up and down the
:04:41. > :04:45.country, but according to Which? many consumers struggled to pay for
:04:45. > :04:49.their seasonal shopping spree. The Organisation interviewed 2000
:04:49. > :04:53.adults in the run-up to the festive break. Nine out of 10 of those
:04:53. > :04:56.questioned said they felt under pressure to spend too much. Just
:04:56. > :04:59.under half said they had used some form of debt to help them meet
:04:59. > :05:05.their bills, with many claiming it was the only way they could afford
:05:05. > :05:08.crispers at all. Credit cards were the most popular form of borrowing,
:05:08. > :05:12.although a substantial proportion also relied on store cards and
:05:12. > :05:16.overdrafts from their banks. According to Which? reliance on
:05:16. > :05:19.credit may be storing up trouble for the future. The overall picture
:05:19. > :05:23.is one of declining financial resilience among the population
:05:23. > :05:27.with people telling us they are feeling very squeezed. In the long
:05:27. > :05:30.term, borrowing on credit is bad for consumers and the economy.
:05:30. > :05:34.is not just a problem for consumers. The retail industry says that
:05:34. > :05:38.Christmas sales were acceptable and may have been slightly higher than
:05:38. > :05:43.last year, but it spending dries up over the next few months, life
:05:43. > :05:47.could become very tough indeed. What the survey suggests is that
:05:47. > :05:50.while Christmas may have provided some short-term relief from the
:05:50. > :05:54.general financial gloom, for many the season of celebrations are
:05:54. > :06:01.likely to be followed by a painful new year hangover of debt which may