Sir David Attenborough has revealed that he gets hate mail from viewers for not crediting God in his documentaries.

The veteran broadcaster, who is presenting a new series on Charles Darwin, said that he has received letters telling him to burn in hell because of his views on evolution.

He told Radio Times that he is often asked why he does not credit God when talking about some of the creatures featured on his shows: "They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball.

"The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."

He also revealed that he doesn't think creationism should be taught alongside evolution in schools and added: "It's like saying that two and two equals four, but if you wish to believe it, it could also be five.

"Evolution is not a theory; it is a fact, every bit as much as the historical fact that William the Conqueror landed in 1066."

Are you shocked to hear that Sir David receives hate mail? What do you think of his views?

The influence of lobbyists in the House of Lords will come under increasing scrutiny as official inquiries continue into the cash-for-influence row engulfing four Labour peers.

Lords Leader Baroness Royall has pledged to toughen the upper chamber's anti-sleaze rules as she launched two parliamentary probes into claims Labour members were ready to change legislation in return for money.

Lord Truscott, Lord Moonie, Lord Taylor of Blackburn and Lord Snape are accused of entering into negotiations, involving fees of up to £120,000, with Sunday Times reporters posing as lobbyists for a foreign firm.

All four strenuously deny any wrongdoing but they face the possibility of a police probe after the Liberal Democrats filed a complaint with Scotland Yard.

And Lord Moonie, a former defence minister, also faces separate questions over his decision to give a Parliamentary pass to someone previously stripped of such access because of his arms industry lobbying links.

The four peers will give evidence to the House of Lords interests sub-committee privately this week, while Lady Royall has been holding talks with them in her role as Labour's leader in the second chamber.

Answering an urgent question on the issue, Lady Royall said the sub-committee on interests had already started investigating and that the chairman of the Privileges Committee, Lord Brabazon of Tara, was carrying out a wider review of punishments, raising suggestions peers caught breaking rules could face expulsion or suspension.

Currently peers found to have broken conduct rules can only be ordered to apologise to the House.

The credit squeeze for families and businesses looks set to intensify into 2009 despite unprecedented measures to recapitalise the banking system and get lending flowing again, a survey showed Friday.

A survey from Halifax, the country's biggest mortgage lender, showed house prices fell a record annual 16.2 percent last month. Bank of England figures showed mortgage approvals slumped to a record low in November and a survey of purchasing managers showed manufacturing activity contracted in December for an eighth month running.

"There's no let-up in sight," said George Johns, an economist at Barclays Capital.

The pound resumed its slide on the foreign exchanges and two-year gilt yields fell below 1 percent for the first time as traders bet the Bank of England will deliver another hefty rate cut next week.

Interest rates have already been slashed to 2 percent, their lowest level since 1951. With the economy battered by the worst financial storm for 80 years, markets are pricing in another cut of at least half a percentage point next Thursday.

"Today's weak data is likely to add to the list of reasons for the Monetary Policy Committee to cut aggressively next week," said Amit Kara, an economist at UBS.

Kara expects rates to be cut to just 1 percent next week and to 0.5 percent by March. Interest rates have never gone below 2 percent since the central bank was created in 1694.

VICIOUS DOWNWARD SPIRAL

Evidence that banks are still reining in lending will be embarrassing for the government which has pumped billions of taxpayers' money into the country's major banks in return for pledges that lending would be maintained.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has singled out bank lending as the single most pressing challenge facing policymakers and warned that banks may need further injections of money if financial conditions worsen.

The Bank's quarterly credit conditions survey showed lenders had reduced the availability of both secured and unsecured credit in the fourth quarter of last year and expected to cut back further in the next three months.

A vicious downward spiral -- in which falling house prices make banks reluctant to lend, pushing prices down further -- may prove difficult to break.

Halifax figures showed house prices fell by a record 16.2 percent year-on-year in the three months to December, taking them to their lowest level since August 2004. House prices have already shed some 20 percent from their 2007 peak, falling even faster than in the last recession of the early 1990s.

Moreover, the pace of house prices show no sign of slowing.

Mortgage approvals for house purchase -- a leading indicator of the market -- fell to just 27,000 in November, the lowest level since the series began in January 1999 and a third of its level a year ago.

"There's no end in sight to the pain in the housing market," said Matthew Sharratt, an economist at Bank of America.