:00:10. > :00:15.Hundreds of shoppers have queued through the night to grab a Boxing
:00:15. > :00:24.Day bargain. Up to �3 billion is expected to be spent today across
:00:24. > :00:27.shopping centres and high streets. The winter sale is traditionally
:00:27. > :00:34.bigger than the summer. It's important and one of the biggest
:00:34. > :00:37.volume days of the year. Thousands of hunt supporters are out in force,
:00:37. > :00:46.as a senior minister says there's little chance of overturning the
:00:47. > :00:49.ban on hunting with dogs. A High Court judge criticises the
:00:49. > :00:59.Government's plans over gay marriage. And, who won the battle
:00:59. > :01:05.
:01:06. > :01:09.for number one in the Christmas Day TV ratings? Good afternoon.
:01:09. > :01:11.Hundreds of shoppers have queued through the night in the hope of
:01:11. > :01:14.grabbing a Boxing Day bargain. Retail analysts are expecting
:01:14. > :01:18.almost �3 billion to be spent today across shopping centres and high
:01:18. > :01:21.streets. Spending over the final weekend before Christmas hit the
:01:21. > :01:26.predicted five billion, but many high street retailers still risk
:01:26. > :01:29.going under after the festive period. Let's join Judith Moritz
:01:29. > :01:39.,who is at the White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds. Judith, how's it
:01:39. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :01:46.looking there? It's extremely busy. In terms of what they're telling me,
:01:46. > :01:49.this place has been open for 15 years and last week they had their
:01:49. > :01:56.busiest-ever week of trade and overnight, waiting for the Boxing
:01:56. > :02:03.Day sales, 4,000 people were in the queue. There was a good camaraderie,
:02:03. > :02:08.but when the doors opened it was every man for himself. The annual
:02:08. > :02:12.tradition of the Boxing Day sales is alive and well, as much of a
:02:12. > :02:16.Christmas ritual for these shoppers as turkey and tinsel. They queued
:02:17. > :02:23.from the early hours to be sure of securing the best bargains. Falling
:02:23. > :02:27.over each other to get inside shops they were in London's West End.
:02:27. > :02:31.Websites say that nearly �3 billion will go through the tills today,
:02:31. > :02:36.with four million people hitting the shops and five million buying
:02:36. > :02:41.online. That's all welcome news for retailers. Last year was a strong
:02:41. > :02:46.Christmas online and this year has built again. We are seeing double-
:02:46. > :02:51.digit numbers online this year, so we are not surprised, but it has
:02:51. > :02:58.been very strong. Whilst online shopping has boomed, the British
:02:58. > :03:01.Retail Consortium says high street spending has been acceptable. In
:03:01. > :03:08.Yorkshire they are still feeling positive. This centre if Leeds is
:03:08. > :03:12.one centre to do well. I got new shoes for work and just new
:03:12. > :03:16.everything. Why come today? Definitely, for bargains. We come
:03:16. > :03:24.every year. We got up at four. Got in the car and drove to
:03:24. > :03:29.Huddersfield, went to the Next sale, spent some money there. Yep. As you
:03:29. > :03:36.do. We drove from Huddersfield over to Leeds and here we are. Shop,
:03:36. > :03:42.shop, shop. We waited until after Christmas to come to get a full new
:03:42. > :03:45.wardrobe. Princes Street in Edinburgh has drawn the crowds.
:03:45. > :03:49.Bargain Hunting is proving popular here too. Some shops started their
:03:49. > :03:54.sales well before Christmas and some websites saw massive activity
:03:54. > :04:02.on Christmas Day, but there's still a lot of affection for the national
:04:02. > :04:04.Boxing Day shop-a-thon. Shoppers like those we met here, who have
:04:04. > :04:09.been to three separate centres are the kind of people that retailers
:04:09. > :04:13.want to meet and it has been good news across the country. We have
:04:13. > :04:20.just heard from Selfridges that they took �1.5 million in their
:04:20. > :04:26.first hour's trading alone. Great news for them. They are saying here
:04:26. > :04:31.it's going and online retail analysts say online sales are up
:04:31. > :04:35.31% on the same period last year. Great news if you are shopping on
:04:35. > :04:39.the computer, but across the board really, it's that tradition of
:04:39. > :04:43.Boxing Day sales and retailers are hoping it will go beyond and into
:04:43. > :04:48.the rest of the week and the rest of the festive period and people
:04:48. > :04:51.will keep spending. Thank you very much. Bargain hunters in London
:04:51. > :04:54.will be making their way to the sales without the help of the
:04:54. > :04:57.London Underground. The network is running a reduced service as tube
:04:57. > :05:01.drivers have walked out in a dispute over Bank Holiday pay.
:05:01. > :05:04.London Transport says extra buses are being laid on to help. Let's go
:05:04. > :05:14.live now to Ben Geoghegan, who joins us from outside Edgware Road
:05:14. > :05:14.
:05:14. > :05:19.Tube Station in West London. Tell us more. This is the third Boxing
:05:19. > :05:24.Day in a row when ASLEF tube drivers have decided to strike. The
:05:24. > :05:28.issue is about pay for working on Boxing Day. The union argues that
:05:28. > :05:31.when drivers are asked to work and there will be 850 who have been
:05:31. > :05:35.asked to work today, they should get an increase if salary and it
:05:35. > :05:39.should be voluntary, so that people would choose to work today, because
:05:39. > :05:44.they would earn a little extra money. The company's response to
:05:44. > :05:49.all of this is to say, "We agreed the contract with the drivers years
:05:49. > :05:53.ago. They get paid in the region of �46,000 and their salary includes
:05:53. > :05:56.working on some Bank Holidays." The company have been very critical of
:05:56. > :06:00.their action, saying that it's scandalous and completely
:06:00. > :06:06.unnecessary and that the union are holding Londoners to ransom. Take
:06:06. > :06:11.us through the scale of the disruption. You can see behind me
:06:11. > :06:15.the signs when are telling people not to get on a train here. What
:06:15. > :06:19.TfL are saying is there's a limited service, but there some service on
:06:19. > :06:22.all of the tube lines. I think what they are trying to do is
:06:22. > :06:26.concentrate on what they say are the core areas, so 300 extra buses
:06:26. > :06:33.have been laid on to take people to shopping centres and other
:06:33. > :06:37.attractions in the centre of town and they are putting on tubes on
:06:37. > :06:43.the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines going through the centre.
:06:43. > :06:49.This isn't the only day of disruption. If this is not resolved
:06:49. > :06:52.ASLEF say they'll strike towards the end of next month. Thank you.
:06:52. > :06:54.The commander of Syria's military police has defected and joined the
:06:54. > :06:56.uprising against President Assad's government. Major General Abdulaziz
:06:56. > :06:59.al-Shalal is reported as saying that the Syrian Army had deviated
:06:59. > :07:02.from it's original mission of protecting the nation and has
:07:02. > :07:04.turned into a gang of killers. General Shalal is the highest-
:07:04. > :07:12.ranking military police officer to defect since the beginning of the
:07:12. > :07:14.conflict in Syria nearly two years ago. The Met Office has issued a
:07:14. > :07:18.landslide warning for parts of south-west England as heavy
:07:18. > :07:21.downpours continue to spark fears of unstable cliff faces. The Dorset
:07:21. > :07:24.coast has already been affected, with two landslips on Swanage Beach
:07:24. > :07:34.in Dorset. Boxing Day walkers are being urged to take extra care. 149
:07:34. > :07:35.
:07:35. > :07:38.flood warnings remain in place across England and Wales. A senior
:07:38. > :07:41.Cabinet minister has said he doubts whether MPs will be given a chance
:07:41. > :07:43.next year to overturn the ban on hunting with dogs. The Environment
:07:43. > :07:46.Secretary, Owen Paterson, has warned there's no prospect of
:07:46. > :07:50.winning a vote in 2013. More than 300 hunts are meeting for drag
:07:50. > :08:00.hunts today. Let's join Alex Dunlop, who is at the Thurlow Hunt in
:08:00. > :08:02.
:08:02. > :08:06.Suffolk. Alex. Matthew, this is very much the heart of hunting
:08:06. > :08:11.country and the Boxing Day meet is very much at the heart of the
:08:11. > :08:14.hunting calendar. The hunt here in Suffolk meets about 70 times a year.
:08:14. > :08:19.They have about two meets a week and they have people from all walks
:08:19. > :08:23.of life joining the hunt. They can trace their roots back to 1770, but
:08:23. > :08:27.for the last eight years they've had to have what is called a drag
:08:27. > :08:29.hunt. That is having the scent of a fox poured on a rag and dragged
:08:29. > :08:33.through the surrounding fields. There were many riders and
:08:33. > :08:37.followers this morning. They were in a field here and they set off
:08:37. > :08:42.over an hour ago and they are expected to be out for most of the
:08:42. > :08:48.day. The hounds of the hunt have arrived for the busiest day of the
:08:48. > :08:56.calendar. Waiting for them, dozens of riders and hundreds of followers,
:08:56. > :09:00.keen to show their support despite the ban. A lot of hunts have some
:09:00. > :09:06.pretty spiteful activities by opponents, who pursue them all over.
:09:06. > :09:10.It makes their life pretty difficult. The law itself isn't
:09:10. > :09:15.entirely clear as to what is acceptable and what is not. This is
:09:15. > :09:22.what the hunt will follow. A sock infused with fox scent. It will be
:09:22. > :09:26.dragged through the countryside. Eight years, -- ago, widespread
:09:26. > :09:30.demonstrations failed to stop the ban coming into force. Since 2005,
:09:30. > :09:34.it's been illegal to use dogs to hunt in England and Wales. Scotland
:09:34. > :09:39.had already brought in a ban. But campaigners say illegal hunting it
:09:39. > :09:44.still going on. Just last week, members of the Heythorp Hunt were
:09:44. > :09:48.prosecuted by the RSPCA and fined. It's blatant cruelty and it's
:09:49. > :09:53.unnecessary in this day and age and the sooner the hunts wake up and
:09:54. > :09:58.smell the coffee and start honestly hunting a false trail, not a fox-
:09:58. > :10:03.based scent, but an artificial scent, then we will leave them
:10:03. > :10:07.alone and not be here next day having this conversation. In an
:10:07. > :10:17.interview with today's Telegraph, Owen Paterson appeared to rule out
:10:17. > :10:19.
:10:19. > :10:21.a free vote for MPs on whether the ban should be lifted. He said: The
:10:21. > :10:27.300 hunts across England and Wales admit there's little likelihood of
:10:27. > :10:32.the law being changed any time soon. Just before they set off, the field
:10:33. > :10:37.master told me, if they come across a live fox, what they'll do is stop
:10:37. > :10:42.the hunt, control the hounds and then restart the hunt with a for
:10:42. > :10:45.example trail. The Countryside Alliance admit it's highly unlikely
:10:46. > :10:48.that the act will be changed within the lifetime of this Parliament.
:10:48. > :10:58.Those against hunting don't want it changed at all. Back to you. Thank
:10:58. > :11:07.
:11:07. > :11:10.you. For the second time this Christmas, the Government's plans
:11:10. > :11:13.to allow gay marriage in England and Wales have come under strong
:11:13. > :11:16.attack. A High Court judge, Sir Paul Coleridge, has said ministers
:11:16. > :11:18.should instead be focussing on what he called a crisis of family
:11:18. > :11:20.breakdown. Yesterday, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminister
:11:21. > :11:23.used his Christmas message to say the Government's proposals had
:11:23. > :11:30.become a shambles. Let's get more on this with our Political
:11:30. > :11:36.Correspondent, Chris Mason, who's here with me now. What is this all
:11:36. > :11:39.about? Sir Paul has been dealing with family cases and he set up the
:11:39. > :11:44.Marriage Foundation, which tries to hold couples together. It's his
:11:44. > :11:48.argument that the focus on gay marriage is good from the view of a
:11:49. > :11:52.national debate about marriage, but the real focus should be the 99.9%
:11:52. > :11:55.of couples with children and trying to ensure that they are kept
:11:55. > :11:59.together. Has there been any response for the Government? Yes,
:11:59. > :12:02.some. It's quite striking. Normally there is a ceasefire in political
:12:02. > :12:08.hostilities over the Christmas season, but given that gay marriage
:12:09. > :12:12.is so big an issue for so many people within the churches, we have
:12:12. > :12:16.had the comments from the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wesminster,
:12:16. > :12:20.saying that the Government's plans were a shambles, but Downing Street
:12:20. > :12:27.made clear Conservative MPs will get a free vote on this and the
:12:27. > :12:31.Government has said that no church will be obliged to carry out gay
:12:31. > :12:35.marriage ceremonies. Striking comments from Lynne Featherstone
:12:35. > :12:38.saying today that criticism from those within the churches on this
:12:38. > :12:43.is shameful, because she said there is a mandate for this and the
:12:43. > :12:45.Conservatives have talked about it and it's Lib Dem policies and it's
:12:45. > :12:51.her argument that polls suggest that people are in favour of it.
:12:51. > :12:54.Thank you very much. It's one of the most hotly contested TV battles
:12:54. > :12:57.of the year - which programme managed to beat all the others and
:12:57. > :12:59.take the top-spot for ratings on Christmas Day. Well, last night
:12:59. > :13:01.Eastenders was the most watched show, beating Coronation Street
:13:01. > :13:11.into second place. With all the details, here's our Entertainment
:13:11. > :13:15.
:13:15. > :13:21.Correspondent, Lizo Mzimba. The rating's battle is as traditional
:13:21. > :13:25.as turkey, with the brod casters rolling out their big --
:13:25. > :13:30.broadcasters, rolling out their biggest hitters. Overall viewing
:13:30. > :13:33.figures might be down, but the BBC will still be delighted that in the
:13:33. > :13:38.battle of the soaps, EastEnders beat Coronation Street by close to
:13:39. > :13:45.one million viewers and other BBC shows like Strictly Come Dancing
:13:45. > :13:47.beat ITV's other big offering, Downton Abbey way down into eighth
:13:47. > :13:50.position. Christmas Day figures are crucial to the various different
:13:50. > :13:54.channels. Much in the way that Saturday night figures are too.
:13:54. > :13:58.They seem to be the benchmark by which people judge success or
:13:58. > :14:07.failure and of course Christmas Day has been owned by the BBC for many
:14:07. > :14:12.a long year and they don't want to give that title. It's the
:14:12. > :14:15.Corporation's range of shows from old favourites to new-comers like
:14:15. > :14:23.Call the Midwife that seemed to have helped the BBC retain the
:14:23. > :14:26.crown. This past year has been one of great celebration for many.
:14:26. > :14:30.still early days for some innovations. The Queen's broadcast
:14:30. > :14:34.was seen by 36,000 people in 3D, the first time it's been broadcast
:14:34. > :14:40.in that form at. A tiny proportion compared to the 8 million who
:14:40. > :14:43.watched it in traditional 2D. And the battle isn't over yet. Once