The head of Britain's biggest state-controlled bank has warned that a eurozone country could leave the single currency during 2012

The head of Britain's biggest state-controlled bank has warned that a eurozone country could leave the single currency during 2012, sending shockwaves around Europe's banking system.

Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Philip Hampton made the prediction during Jeff Randall's Christmas Dinner, a seasonal discussion between business leaders on Sky News.

He said: "I think it's likely that one country, a small country will drop out.

"It could be any of them because I think that some of these things will be driven by political events, as much as by economic circumstances and social unrest, and all of those sorts of things. But I think there is a very good chance that one country will fall out."

Sir Philip said such an event would "produce massive strains" in Europe's banking system.

"At the more extreme levels of that you would get a wave of recapitalisations of banks by governments throughout Europe," he added.

The chairman of RBS, which came near to bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis and is now 83% owned by the taxpayer, also admitted things could still go horribly wrong in Britain's banking system.

He said: "I don't think the system has been fixed. I think it is very much on the mend."

He then joked: "There is a ghoulish expression used in the City that the British banks are the best looking horse in the glue factory or the best looking pig in the slaughterhouse."

Meanwhile, the boss of Sainsbury's told the group that charity shops can have a detrimental effect on the British high street.

The supermarket giant's chief executive Justin King said: "Ultimately lots of charity shops potentially undermine vibrant new small businesses starting up, so I don't think we should assume that they are necessarily a benign force."

Imperial Tobacco's boss Alison Cooper also attended the gathering for the Jeff Randall LiveChristmas special.

She suggested that Chancellor George Osborne may need to be prepared to deviate from his rigid deficit reduction strategy, known as Plan A, during the coming year.

Ms Cooper said: "There will need to be some agility around it if necessary, on the basis of how the world evolves and to make sure that we're responsive to that but the core of it will remain."


Sky News