Conway's Console: The Recovery Where You Live

The recession is over and the recovery is under way.

Of course, that's welcome news - not just for the Chancellor but for the country as a whole.

But one of the most striking features of this recovery is that, all too often, the national story is quite, quite different to the local one.

Take house prices: they're rocketing in London but they are barely increasing (and sometimes actually falling) in many other parts of the country.

You can tell a similarly divergent story about wages, or the labour market, or indeed broader measures of economic output.

Now, I've tried to tell that story on Sky News whenever possible, but even more striking is when you have a chance to explore the real, divergent story of Britain's economic recovery yourself.

And that's precisely what I've attempted to do with this new console.

As a bit of a data geek, I try to look at as many different measures of how each region is doing - whether on housing affordability, earnings or jobs - but I've always been frustrated that there's no single place which puts them all together.

Well that's precisely the objective of the product we at Sky News have now created. For better or worse, it's called Conway's Console.

Open it up yourself and spend a moment checking it out.

You can look at how your region or local area of the UK compares to the national average on a whole range of different measures.

You can compare one area against another - for instance, just look at the enormous divergence between inner London and parts of the North East on a whole range of measures.

Or go to the "Heat Map" tab on the top left and see how the country looks in terms of house prices, housing affordability, wages or unemployment. See, for instance, which part has grown most in the most recent year. And no, it's not London.

The message I hope you'll get is that this economy, and the recovery, are far more complex and divergent than any single report of ours or others can express. And that divergence is greater in this economic recovery than any other for decades.

:: Watch Sky News on December 5 for live coverage and reaction to the Autumn Statement

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Downing St: US Contract Ban On BP 'Excessive'

The Government has shown its support for BP in a legal dispute over a ban on the oil giant winning federal contracts in the US following the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

In a filing to a court considering BP's attempt to lift the ban, the UK Government said the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the firm from US government contracts "may have been excessive".

Explaining the move, a Downing Street official told the Financial Times the firm was "vital to British jobs and pension funds".

The blow-out of the Deepwater Horizon well off the Louisiana coast in 2010 claimed 11 lives and the resulting oil spill damaged fishing and tourism as well as marine and wildlife habitats, forcing the company to sign a multi-billion dollar compensation deal.

As well as costing the firm $42.5bn (£26bn) BP was hit by the ban on new US government work in November last year because of the way it handled the disaster.

The Downing Street official told the newspaper: "This is a straightforward economic argument.

"BP is vital to British jobs and pension funds: Britain's businesses need certainty to operate and invest."

The source said the Government recognised the seriousness of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, "but it is important that where companies take responsibility, as BP has, they are treated fairly under the law."

In August BP sued the US government over the EPA's move, calling on the US District Court for the southern district of Texas to declare the decision null, void and unenforceable.

The Financial Times reported that the Government has filed an "amicus brief", meaning it is not a party to the case but is showing support for BP, telling the court the EPA's move "may have been excessive", especially the decision to suspend multiple BP entities including some that were not implicated in the accident.

"By creating a process under which any corporate affiliate anywhere in the world can be suspended from transacting business with the government regardless of culpability, EPA risks creating a powerful disincentive to co-operation in times of crisis," it said.

In a separate case, US court on Tuesday suspended payments to American businesses who claimed they suffered damages as a result of the oil leak in the Gulf.

BP argued it has paid out more than $500m (£305m) to companies who have not suffered any harm or direct losses due to the disaster.

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Royal Mail And Union Reach Deal On Pay

A proposed deal has been agreed between the Royal Mail and union leaders on pay, pensions and other issues linked to the privatisation of the postal group.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) had been threatening industrial action in the run up to Christmas but held off calling strikes so talks could be held.

After what were described as "extensive" negotiations, the two sides announced that a proposed agreement had been reached.

A union statement said: "The proposed agreement will now be considered by the union's postal executive over the next few days and will ultimately be subject to a ballot of the union's members.

Staff had backed the prospect of strikes pending the outcome of the talks

"During the ratification process, the industrial action ballot remains valid.

"Details of the proposed agreement will be made available following the conclusion of the meeting of the union's postal executive."

In a statement to the stock market, Royal Mail said an agreement had been made in principle with the CWU on pay, legal protections, industrial stability and pensions.

"Royal Mail and the CWU have agreed that the union's ballot for industrial action remains valid.

"However, the CWU has confirmed that there will be no disruption through industrial action during the ratification process of the proposed agreement, including the whole of the Christmas trading period.

"An announcement on the content of the proposed agreement will be made when it is ratified by the union's executive committee.

"The proposed agreement is also subject to approval by the Royal Mail plc board."

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RBS And Natwest Glitch: Branches Open Early

More than one thousand Natwest and RBS branches opened early on Wednesday to help customers resolve outstanding issues with their accounts after Monday's technical glitch.

All of the high street banks' systems went down for three hours on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, 'Cyber Monday', but while the IT issue was apparently fixed there have been knock-on effects of the outage for customers to contend with.

Some complained of accounts being closed, late payments leaving them overdrawn and problems logging on to online banking services.

There was also concern that phishing attacks aimed to capitalise on the confusion.

The banks' Twitter accounts continue to be bombarded with comments

Sky News was shown one example of an apparent attempt by fraudsters to gain details of a customer's banking information.

In response, RBS said: "We take our customers' security very seriously and we will never ask them to disclose security details or personal information.

"We urge our customers not to click on any links and attachments within suspicious emails and to report a suspicious email to us.

"If a customer thinks their accounts have been accessed online by someone other than themself, they should contact us immediately."

Ross McEwan has promised more investment in the group's IT systems

RBS - which owns the Natwest and Ulster bank brands - opened branches from 08.00am to assist its 15.7 million customers still experiencing problems with their accounts following Monday evening's failure - the third such problem to face the group in 18 months.

The group promised anyone left out of pocket would be compensated - including those who had to check their credit reports to ensure their ratings were unaffected.

The group chief executive Ross McEwan described the latest glitch as "unacceptable" and added: "For decades, RBS failed to invest properly in its systems.

"We need to put our customers' needs at the centre of all we do. It will take time, but we are investing heavily in building IT systems our customers can rely on.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience we caused our customers. We know we have to do better.

"I will be outlining plans in the New Year for making RBS the bank that our customers and the UK need it to be.

"This will include an outline of where we intend to invest for the future."

The bank is still investigating the cause of the glitch, which struck at around 6.30pm.

RBS insisted the problems were "completely unrelated" to high transaction volumes on 'Cyber Monday' and it is understood that hacking has been ruled out also.

RBS and NatWest came under fire in March after a "hardware fault" meant customers were unable to use their online accounts or withdraw cash for several hours.

A major computer issue in June last year saw payments go awry, wages appear to go missing and home purchases and holidays interrupted for several weeks, costing the group £175m in compensation.

Trade union Unite, which represents RBS staff, called on Tuesday for the bank to halt its cost-cutting programme, which has seen thousands of jobs axed and IT functions sent abroad, in the wake of the IT problems.

National officer Dominic Hook said: "It is unacceptable that the bank's customers are once again facing inconvenience. Unite has grave concerns that staffing challenges are exacerbating the problems facing the bank

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Moulton Sizes Up Bid For Ailing Pawnbroker

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The veteran investor Jon Moulton is sizing up a takeover bid for the embattled pawnbroking chain Albemarle & Bond (A&B).

Sky News has learnt that Better Capital, Mr Moulton's investment firm, is among a pack of suitors examining offers for the company after it was forced to put itself up for sale.

Albemarle & Bond has lurched from one crisis to another in recent months, announcing last week that it had resorted to melting its gold reserves to raise cash.

On Monday, it said that five of its board members had resigned, leaving Greville Nicholls, its chairman, as its only non-executive board member.

Albemarle & Bond has been hit hard by the declining gold price and has struggled within its borrowing agreements with its lenders.

Last month, the company said the trading environment had continued to be challenging, "with no signs of recovery in the key trading metrics of pawnbroking advances or gold buying".

"The gold price has seen further weakness and, as of 26 November 2013, is 27% below the average price for March 2013," it said.

If it does proceed with an offer, Better Capital will not be the only bidder for Albemarle & Bond. A number of other specialist distressed investors are circling, although the company warned this week that there was no guarantee that a transaction would result.

Founded in 1983 with a single shop in Bristol, Albemarle & Bond expanded rapidly, to the extent that it had established dozens of pop-up shops to take advantage of demand for its services. In 2011, the company went so far as to declare "the age of the pawnbroker".

Albemarle & Bond has been struggling since the summer when its biggest shareholder, EZCorp, declined to back a £35m rights issue.

City analysts are now split about its survival prospects, having watched its shares dive by 90% this year.

Mr Moulton, whose funds own the parcel delivery company City Link and Jaeger, the fashion brand, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

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Eurostar: Government's 40% Stake Up For Sale

The Government is to sell its 40% stake in Eurostar in a move that could raise up to £10bn as part of a new privatisation project.

The sale is part of a plan to privatise £20bn of financial and corporate assets by 2020, but is likely to spark accusations that the 'family silver' is being sold off.

Speaking to Sky News, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said he thought there was "scope to expand the sale of Government assets".

His comments will prompt speculation that other assets in the Government's £600bn portfolio including the Post Office, the Royal Mint, the Met Office and Channel 4, could be next under the hammer.

The announcement follows the £3.3bn sale of the Royal Mail in October, which left Business Secretary Vince Cable facing allegations the business was undervalued by up to £6bn.

Danny Alexander will announce the plans

The £160m sale of the Government's student loans book to private debt collectors last month led to claims that the public was "subsidising a private company making a profit from pubic debt".

The plan for the Eurostar sell-off is contained in the new national infrastructure plan (NIP) which sets out over £375bn of planned public and private investments to 2030 and beyond.

As part of the announcement it was disclosed that the Government has set a new target for selling off state financial assets from £10bn to £20bn.

Mr Alexander told Sky News: "The principle that would apply is that if there are assets that the Government does not need to own and we can release vital resources that can go to improve infrastructure elsewhere in the country, then that is a good decision to make.

"But of course it would have to be demonstrated to be good value for money for the taxpayer that's a process that would have to be gone through before any final decision would be made."

He added: "We think there is scope to expand the sale of Government assets with the objective of making sure those project are managed effectively in the private sector and we can release funds to build much-needed infrastructure elsewhere."

He stressed that Eurostar would not necessarily be sold this year or next but that it could be sold between now and 2020.

Mr Cameron told Sky News that he found the process for infrastructure development frustrating. He said: "It is frustrating sometimes that we can't do things faster in Britain but we have a planning system, we have democratic accountability for that planning system, we have a need for everyone to have their say and make their point.

"That's very important in the British system.

"I think we can keep that system and that democracy but at the same time accelerate things and make them go faster.

"If you look at what this Government's done in terms of planning policy, decisions are now being taken faster, including on major infrastructure projects."

However, critics will question whether it is sensible to look to sell off the public's stake just as the Eurostar's fortunes seem to have turned a corner.

Sales revenue for the period July-September 2013 reached £207m - a 10% increase on the same period last year - and passenger numbers in summer 2013 rose 5% to 2.7 million.

The new national infrastructure plan will also see a commitment by six major insurers - Legal and General, Prudential, Aviva, Standard Life, Friends Life and Scottish Widows - to invest £25bn over five years in UK infrastructure projects.

The planned infrastructure investment has increased from £309bn last year to more than £375bn, with 291 of the 646 projects and programmes already under construction.

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Leslie said: "Scheme after scheme has been announced to great fanfare, but then little actually delivered.

"Yet another announcement from ministers about possible future investment will do little to reassure business that warm words will finally translate into diggers in the ground."

Other measures being announced include:

:: The scrapping of plans to create the UK's first toll road for a decade. Motorists will not be charged to use the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon once the improvement scheme, due to start in 2016, is completed.

:: A further £50m will be allocated to redevelop the railway station at Gatwick Airport.

:: A Government guarantee could support finance for the development of a new nuclear power station at Wylfa on Anglesey.

:: The £1bn Northern Line extension to Battersea in southwest London will also be guaranteed by the Government.

:: Watch live coverage of the Autumn Statement throughout Thursday on Sky News HD

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Tesco UK Sales: Setback Blamed On Economy

Tesco's UK recovery strategy is facing renewed scrutiny after it confirmed a third-quarter decline in underlying sales.

Britain's biggest retailer is 20 months into a turnaround plan for its main UK business, which has seen more than £1bn invested in store revamps, more staff, new product ranges and pricing initiatives.

But it said sales at British stores open over a year, excluding fuel and VAT, fell 1.5% in the 13 weeks to November 23 - down 1.2% when fuel was included.

Tesco said total group sales increased 0.6% at actual exchange rates, excluding petrol, though like-for-like sales fell 5.1% in Asia and were 4% lower in the Europe division.

The results statement said: "Despite the challenging conditions in many of our markets, we are performing in line with market expectations for the full year."

Philip Clarke has blamed the tough economy for falling sales

Chief executive Philip Clarke added: "Continuing pressures on UK household finances have made the grocery market more challenging for everyone since the summer and our third quarter performance reflects this.

"Overseas, the near-term trading environment also remains tough."

Tesco and its three biggest competitors Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons are being squeezed by discounters Aldi and Lidl and the more upmarket Waitrose and Marks & Spencer at the other end of the scale.

Last month Kantar Worldpanel, the market research group, reported that all of the "big four" were losing market share for the first time in over a decade, while Aldi's share was at a record high.

The step up in competition has prompted some analysts to suggest Tesco needs to cut prices to reclaim lost market share, putting a doubt over the sustainability of its targeted UK operating margin of 5.2%.

The group did not give an operating margin for the third quarter.

Analysts' average forecast for group trading profit in 2013-14 is £3.39bn, down from the £3.45bn made in 2012-13, according to Tesco's website.

Its share price rose 1% when the FTSE 100 opened on Wednesday.

More follows...

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