Warning Over New Platinum Mine Strikes

The South African government has warned that the country cannot afford industrial action, ahead of a planned strike this week at the world's top three platinum producers.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan issued the warning as the platinum industry's main trade union served notice on Anglo American Platinum, Lonmin and Impala Platinum.

South African industry has been hit by a series of sometimes violent strikes in the factory and mining sectors.

Growth has been constrained to a sluggish 2% in 2013, which has thwarted job creation by President Jacob Zuma's administration.

Gold and platinum mining have been crucial to the economy

The African National Congress has ruled since white minority rule ended in 1994, but the Mr Zuma's party has suffered increasing hostility after failing to improve living standards.

On Monday, Platinum producers Anglo American Platinum, Lonmin and Impala Platinum confirmed they had received notice from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) to strike in 48 hours.

Industry experts now predict the onset of unrest to hit the sector.

Thousands of workers went on strike at the Marikana mine in 2012

The trade body representing the bullion producers said it hoped to thwart AMCU industrial action at three gold mining locations through court orders.

The AMCU has rejected an 8% pay hike that rival union National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) - which still represents most gold miners - negotiated with mine firms last year.

The South African currency has taken a battering in recent months.

The rand has lost 4% in 2014 against the US dollar, and now hovers near five-year lows after the strike plans were announced.

More than 50 people died in violent mine protests in 2012, amid claims of police brutality and firing on striking workers.

The impact on Africa's biggest economy prompted rating agencies Moody's, Fitch, and Standard and Poor's to downgrade the country.

Police were accused of indiscriminate firing on protesters

This prompted the rand losing value by around a quarter.

"The platinum industry needs to seriously get around the table," Mr Gordhan said.

"We can least afford another round of strikes that will act as a destabilisation to the platinum sector, which has had increasing difficulties over the last 18 months."

 :: Watch the latest updates live on Sky News on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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IMF Upgrades UK Growth Forecast Above Rivals

By Ed Conway, Economics Editor

The International Monetary Fund is on the brink of upgrading its growth forecast for the UK more than any other major economy, Sky News has learnt.

The Fund is poised to increase its projection for UK growth in 2014 from 1.9% to 2.4%. Although the Fund will also lift its forecasts for world economic growth, the UK upgrade is significantly stronger.

It is the latest boost to the fortunes of the Chancellor, coming barely 24 hours after the Ernst & Young ITEM Club also increased its projection for UK economic growth this year.

Although the Fund's forecast for growth this year will be shy of the 2.7% predicted by the ITEM Club, the scale of the upgrade underlines how quickly sentiment about Britain's economy has turned in recent months.

The updated forecasts may also be construed as a reputational blow for the Fund itself, whose chief economist warned less than a year ago that the economic policies being carried out by George Osborne amounted to "playing with fire".

Since then, the Fund has already increased its growth projections for Britain once, last October, before this week's anticipated upgrade.

The news comes amid growing optimism about the speed of the UK recovery. In spite of concerns about retailers' fortunes over Christmas, retail sales grew in December at the fastest annual rate in almost a decade.

The Office for National Statistics is expected to announce next week that growth in the final quarter of 2013 remained relatively strong at around 0.7%.

However, some have voiced concern that Britain has been reliant for much of the growth on household spending rather than the exports and manufacturing sector.

The IMF itself has voiced concern that, having failed to rebalance the economy, the government is now reliant, through policies such as Help to Buy, on boosting the housing market and encouraging consumers to take out more debt.

Nonetheless, the IMF upgrade represents the latest evidence that Britain's recovery is starting to take real hold, pushing the country towards robust growth this year.

 :: Watch the news conference live on Sky News, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Motorway Pub To Open Despite Opposition

A new £1m pub opens at a motorway service station today, in the face of fierce criticism from road safety and alcohol campaigners.

Pub chain JD Wetherspoon says The Hope & Champion will be open from 4am to 1am, seven days a week.

The venue is located in the Extra Motorway Service Area at junction 2 of the M40 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

It is the first pub ever to be opened at a motorway service area, and will sell real ale from local and regional brewers.

But critics say the location of the pub is "at odds" with public opinion.

The RAC said a survey of 2,000 people showed only 12% of respondents supported putting pubs into motorway service stations.

Around two-thirds said they did not agree with the move, with older drivers more likely to oppose the sale of alcohol at motorway service areas.

Only 8% of over-55s were in favour, with 71% against, while almost one in five of those aged between 18 and 34 were in support.

The RAC's head of external affairs Pete Williams said: "The public appear to be very much against the introduction of motorway pubs.

"In our view this is a risky and frankly unnecessary move. The question we are struggling to answer is - of all the places to open a pub, why choose a motorway service station?

"The temptation to drink and drive can only be increased by easier access to alcohol."

But Steve Baldwin, manager of the new pub, said the venue would serve the local community.

"The Extra Motorway Service Area, now including The Hope & Champion, primarily serves the motorway users, but its facilities are also available to the surrounding community from the local road network," he said.

Sir Ian Gilmore, Royal College of Physicians special adviser on alcohol and chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: "I am disappointed by the decision to open a JD Wetherspoon on the M40.

"We are trying to prevent harm from alcohol-related traffic accidents and this sends out completely the wrong message."

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Bingo Hall Burden: MPs Call For Tax Cuts

By Adele Robinson, Sky News Correspondent

The UK's bingo hall business will "stagnate" if the Government does not cut tax on it, campaigners say.

More than 50 MPs are backing calls to reduce duty and bring levies on the game in line with other forms of gambling.

Bingo hall profits are currently taxed at 20% compared with a 15% rate for most other gambling activities.

Campaigners estimate that reducing bingo duty is expected to raise around £40m for the Exchequer over four years.

Miles Baron, from the Bingo Association, says investment is vital for growth.

"By building new clubs and investing in new clubs, attendances would improve that would generate more income, that would generate new taxes, that would employ more people ... this is at the heart of the community, this is a vital and important part of some people's social repertoire."

Campaigners claim gambling taxes are forcing more and more clubs to close

The Government says it would have to carefully consider before reducing the rate because its priority is to cut the budget deficit.

Jim Cunningham, Labour MP for Coventry South, says if more support is not given then the "social service" side of bingo will be lost.

"The implications can be that some of these places may have to close because they're not profitable and if that happens then there is a problem for some of these elderly people, during the day in particular, to find somewhere else to go."

Nearly 400 bingo clubs across England, Scotland and Wales are hosting free bingo games this weekend to support the campaign to cut tax.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Fastest Growth In Retail Sales Since 2004

Brisk business for smaller retailers ahead of Christmas helped sales volumes grow at their fastest annual pace since 2004 in December.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) measured 2.6% growth during December to show an annual increase of 5.3% - easily topping the forecasts of economists.

The performance suggests a bigger contribution to GDP growth from consumer spending in the fourth quarter of 2013, after the sector was credited with driving recovery during the previous three months.

However, it will also raise more concerns about consumer debt levels and the extent to which people are digging into savings.

The surge in business for small stores may have been a result of the storms ahead of Christmas - prompting consumers to shop locally.

Debenhams had a poor Xmas despite department stores seeing strong trade

Small stores were found by the ONS to have outperformed their bigger rivals, with the amount spent in them increasing by 8.1% against growth of 2.6% for larger stores, compared with December 2012.

The figures follow news of upbeat trading from the likes of Argos, Halfords, Primark and Next over the festive season, though Marks & Spencer and Debenhams struggled.

The extent of their woes was laid bare by the ONS, which measured department store sales volume growth of 11.7% in December - the highest year-on-year growth since January 2000.

The slew of results from major chains suggested retailers who embraced online and high demand for gadgets and cheap fashion enjoyed robust trading.

The ONS said internet sales increased 11.8% by value compared with the same month last year, with average weekly spending online standing at £675.4m.

The statistical body also reported that the 2.6% growth in sales volumes month-on-month equalled the previous high set in February 2010.

The overall amount spent in shops was up 3.6% compared with the same month last year, with food stores improving by 2.2% and non-food stores by 4.4%.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Ex-Barclays Executive Plots New Business Bank

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A former Barclays executive is setting up a new bank to target small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in a test of the City regulator's pledge to accelerate approvals for new lenders.

Sky News understands that OakNorth, which has secured backing from a group of prominent investors, is one of 20 fledgling banks which are pursuing licences from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

OakNorth has been established by Richard Davies, who rose to become the head of UK operations within Barclays' corporate bank before resigning last November.

He is being joined by a team including Chris Dailey, who was an executive at Aldermore, one of the new banks which have emerged in Britain in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

The emergence of lenders such as OakNorth comes at an important moment in the political debate about banking competition, with the Labour leader Ed Miliband vowing to make the creation of new banks a central plank of his economic policy.

Last summer, the FCA said it would relax capital and liquidity rules for new entrants to the banking market, two of the major obstacles for start-up banks to gain regulatory approval.

London-based OakNorth, which declined to comment further on its plans, intends to "focus on the entrepreneurial community in the UK - working with fast growing small and medium sized enterprises, property developers, high net worth individuals and venture capital firms," according to a website it has set up.

"OakNorth will offer a wide range of lending and saving products to assist SMEs and investors in financing their future growth. The business model will seek to augment traditional banking practices with digital / new form lending techniques."

Sky News has also learnt that Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, held talks earlier this month with a group of so-called challenger banks to discuss the hurdles confronting them.

Among those attending the meeting were executives from Aldermore, Metro Bank, Shawbrook and TSB, as well as Treasury ministers, regulators and the chief executive of Mr Cable's new British Business Bank, which will become operational this year.

Mr Cable told Sky News: "New banks entering the market should be encouraged as they provide choice to customers and are an important source of finance for small businesses.

"Regulators have taken moves to improve the way they authorise new entrants, working closely with the banks and providing time for those that need to get staff and investment in place.

"They have reported an increase in the number of potential new banks they are in talks with, which is promising.

"However, most applications under consideration are for niche banks and to have meaningful competition we need banks with the significant technological platform, the kind TSB and Williams and Glyn received from their parent banks [Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland."

One of the executives who attended the meeting with Mr Cable said industry representatives had emphasised the need for new bank entrants to have access to robust technology platforms that were often prohibitively expensive to small start-up companies.

In a speech last week, Mr Miliband said that Britain's banking market was "broken" and said Labour would, if it won the next general election, create at least two new credible competitors to the country's five biggest lenders.

His pledge has sparked a row with the industry and political rivals, who have accused him of duplicating plans already being implemented through the creation of new high street players such as TSB.

Sky News revealed last month that Aldermore had raised £40m from two leading hedge funds ahead of a flotation this year, while Metro Bank had secured nearly ten times that sum in new funding.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Miliband Promises 'Reckoning' With Big Banks

Is The Banking System Broken?

Updated: 12:36pm UK, Friday 17 January 2014

By Joel Hills, Business Presenter

Folklore at Tesco has it that any internal business pitch to the former boss Sir Terry Leahy which didn't include the word "customer" in the first sentence was bound to end in failure and, on occasion, humiliation.

Sir Terry's time at Tesco is in the process of being reassessed, but there's surely no doubting that the supermarket's spectacular growth in the late 90s was down, in great part, to Tesco's obsession with delivering what customers wanted (no quips about horse burgers, please).

The reason banks are so unpopular, of course, is that they have demonstrably failed to put their customers at the heart of what they do.

In fact they have, on the whole, treated us appallingly.

As Bill Michael of KPMG put it to a group of bank bosses at their annual conference in 2012, far from treating their customers like kings, banks had behaved as if we were "captive geese that can be force-fed, or sold more product to - whether appropriate or not".

Here's the remarkable thing though: the litany of recent scandals and abuses (Payment Protection Insurance, interest rate swaps, Libor-fixing, money laundering, tax avoidance) doesn't seem to have cost the big banks any customers.

Take Barclays. Broadly speaking, the bank has the same number of personal accounts and business accounts today that it did before the financial crisis.

Now the likes of Barclays, Lloyds, RBS and HSBC will tell you that's because ultimately we are all satisfied with the service we are getting from them. Ed Miliband believes it indicates there is something seriously wrong.

The Labour leader's view - that the market isn't functioning properly - is one some of the bosses of smaller banks share.

Last October, a month after the new seven-day switch guarantee was introduced, I chaired a session at the British Bankers' Association's 2013 conference.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the chief executive of Virgin Money, complained that the playing field was still horribly skewed in favour of her rivals. 

Paul Lynam, the chief executive of Secure Trust bank, also thinks he's kicking a ball uphill and struggles to steal business from his much bigger rivals as a result.

Interestingly, while both of them share Ed Miliband's diagnosis of the problem, they both also think his prescription of forced branch sales and market share caps are wrong-headed.

Mr Lynam's grumble is that bigger banks can lend more freely than he can because they can borrow more cheaply (they're still too big to fail and therefore continue to enjoy an implicit taxpayer guarantee) and they are not obliged to retain as much capital to protect themselves against losses as he is (Basel rules – don't worry, I'm not going there).

He also believes that the Payments System is deeply flawed.

Now stay with me, please, because his last point is important. Think of the Payments System like the National Grid, but instead of moving gas and electricity around the country the Payments System moves money.

If Mr Lynam wants to send a payment on behalf of one of his customers to a customer at another bank he has to use the Payments System. Here's the rub: the Payments System is effectively owned by the big banks and they charge Mr Lynam up to 40 pence to "clear" each transaction. He says the real cost is closer to 1p.

The whole issue of competition in banking is nuanced and fiercely contested, but it is also desperately important that it's resolved.

It is imperative that we all have faith that the banking system is working well and in our interests.

Perhaps Mr Miliband's suggestion of a full, independent competition inquiry, however long, isn't such a bad idea.

After all, the Competition Commission investigation into the supermarket sector in 2008 went some way to sorting fact from myth and, I would argue, helped to restore some public trust in the likes of Tesco. And public trust in our banks has surely never been so low.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Fastest Growth In Retail Sales Since 2004

Brisk business for smaller retailers ahead of Christmas helped sales volumes grow at their fastest annual pace since 2004 in December.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) measured 2.6% growth during December to show an annual increase of 5.3% - easily topping the forecasts of economists.

The performance suggests a bigger contribution to GDP growth from consumer spending in the fourth quarter of 2013, after the sector was credited with driving recovery during the previous three months.

However, it will also raise more concerns about consumer debt levels and the extent to which people are digging into savings.

The surge in business for small stores may have been a result of the storms ahead of Christmas - prompting consumers to shop locally.

Debenhams had a poor Xmas despite department stores seeing strong trade

Small stores were found by the ONS to have outperformed their bigger rivals, with the amount spent in them increasing by 8.1% against growth of 2.6% for larger stores, compared with December 2012.

The figures follow news of upbeat trading from the likes of Argos, Halfords, Primark and Next over the festive season, though Marks & Spencer and Debenhams struggled.

The extent of their woes was laid bare by the ONS, which measured department store sales volume growth of 11.7% in December - the highest year-on-year growth since January 2000.

The slew of results from major chains suggested retailers who embraced online and high demand for gadgets and cheap fashion enjoyed robust trading.

The ONS said internet sales increased 11.8% by value compared with the same month last year, with average weekly spending online standing at £675.4m.

The statistical body also reported that the 2.6% growth in sales volumes month-on-month equalled the previous high set in February 2010.

The overall amount spent in shops was up 3.6% compared with the same month last year, with food stores improving by 2.2% and non-food stores by 4.4%.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Bingo Hall Burden: MPs Call For Tax Cuts

By Adele Robinson, Sky News Correspondent

The UK's bingo hall business will "stagnate" if the Government does not cut tax on it, campaigners say.

More than 50 MPs are backing calls to reduce duty and bring levies on the game in line with other forms of gambling.

Bingo hall profits are currently taxed at 20% compared with a 15% rate for most other gambling activities.

Campaigners estimate that reducing bingo duty is expected to raise around £40m for the Exchequer over four years.

Miles Baron, from the Bingo Association, says investment is vital for growth.

"By building new clubs and investing in new clubs, attendances would improve that would generate more income, that would generate new taxes, that would employ more people ... this is at the heart of the community, this is a vital and important part of some people's social repertoire."

Campaigners claim gambling taxes are forcing more and more clubs to close

The Government says it would have to carefully consider before reducing the rate because its priority is to cut the budget deficit.

Jim Cunningham, Labour MP for Coventry South, says if more support is not given then the "social service" side of bingo will be lost.

"The implications can be that some of these places may have to close because they're not profitable and if that happens then there is a problem for some of these elderly people, during the day in particular, to find somewhere else to go."

Nearly 400 bingo clubs across England, Scotland and Wales are hosting free bingo games this weekend to support the campaign to cut tax.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Miliband Promises 'Reckoning' With Big Banks

Is The Banking System Broken?

Updated: 12:36pm UK, Friday 17 January 2014

By Joel Hills, Business Presenter

Folklore at Tesco has it that any internal business pitch to the former boss Sir Terry Leahy which didn't include the word "customer" in the first sentence was bound to end in failure and, on occasion, humiliation.

Sir Terry's time at Tesco is in the process of being reassessed, but there's surely no doubting that the supermarket's spectacular growth in the late 90s was down, in great part, to Tesco's obsession with delivering what customers wanted (no quips about horse burgers, please).

The reason banks are so unpopular, of course, is that they have demonstrably failed to put their customers at the heart of what they do.

In fact they have, on the whole, treated us appallingly.

As Bill Michael of KPMG put it to a group of bank bosses at their annual conference in 2012, far from treating their customers like kings, banks had behaved as if we were "captive geese that can be force-fed, or sold more product to - whether appropriate or not".

Here's the remarkable thing though: the litany of recent scandals and abuses (Payment Protection Insurance, interest rate swaps, Libor-fixing, money laundering, tax avoidance) doesn't seem to have cost the big banks any customers.

Take Barclays. Broadly speaking, the bank has the same number of personal accounts and business accounts today that it did before the financial crisis.

Now the likes of Barclays, Lloyds, RBS and HSBC will tell you that's because ultimately we are all satisfied with the service we are getting from them. Ed Miliband believes it indicates there is something seriously wrong.

The Labour leader's view - that the market isn't functioning properly - is one some of the bosses of smaller banks share.

Last October, a month after the new seven-day switch guarantee was introduced, I chaired a session at the British Bankers' Association's 2013 conference.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the chief executive of Virgin Money, complained that the playing field was still horribly skewed in favour of her rivals. 

Paul Lynam, the chief executive of Secure Trust bank, also thinks he's kicking a ball uphill and struggles to steal business from his much bigger rivals as a result.

Interestingly, while both of them share Ed Miliband's diagnosis of the problem, they both also think his prescription of forced branch sales and market share caps are wrong-headed.

Mr Lynam's grumble is that bigger banks can lend more freely than he can because they can borrow more cheaply (they're still too big to fail and therefore continue to enjoy an implicit taxpayer guarantee) and they are not obliged to retain as much capital to protect themselves against losses as he is (Basel rules – don't worry, I'm not going there).

He also believes that the Payments System is deeply flawed.

Now stay with me, please, because his last point is important. Think of the Payments System like the National Grid, but instead of moving gas and electricity around the country the Payments System moves money.

If Mr Lynam wants to send a payment on behalf of one of his customers to a customer at another bank he has to use the Payments System. Here's the rub: the Payments System is effectively owned by the big banks and they charge Mr Lynam up to 40 pence to "clear" each transaction. He says the real cost is closer to 1p.

The whole issue of competition in banking is nuanced and fiercely contested, but it is also desperately important that it's resolved.

It is imperative that we all have faith that the banking system is working well and in our interests.

Perhaps Mr Miliband's suggestion of a full, independent competition inquiry, however long, isn't such a bad idea.

After all, the Competition Commission investigation into the supermarket sector in 2008 went some way to sorting fact from myth and, I would argue, helped to restore some public trust in the likes of Tesco. And public trust in our banks has surely never been so low.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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