FORMER ROYAL Bank of Scotland chief executive Fred Goodwin’s knighthood, awarded during the height of the bank’s fortunes, has been removed, following an unprecedented rapid top-level inquiry.
News that Mr Goodwin had been stripped of the honour was released just minutes after British prime minister David Cameron had endured a gruelling hour-long questioning in the House of Commons about his handling of talks with EU partners.
The decision was taken by the Queen, on the recommendation of the forfeiture committee – a previously little-known official body made up of five top-ranking civil servants.
Last night, chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne argued that the decision was independent – even though it came just a fortnight after Mr Cameron had given a clear signal that he wanted to see Mr Godwin disgraced.
“The FSA report into what went wrong at RBS made clear where the failures lay and who was responsible. The proper process has been followed and I think we’ve ended up with the right decision,” said Mr Cameron.
Labour leader Ed Miliband, who was a member of the Labour government that approved Mr Godwin’s knighthood, said: “It is right Fred Goodwin has lost his knighthood but it is only the start of the change we need to see.
“We need to change the bonus culture and we need to change the rules so we see real responsibility across the board. We should not have given Fred Goodwin a knighthood but this should not be about individuals, it is about taking the right steps now to create a more responsible capitalism,” he said.
The cabinet office said Mr Goodwin’s knighthood “has been cancelled and annulled” because he had brought the honours system into disrepute” due to “the scale and severity of the impact of his actions” at RBS, making this “an exceptional case”.
Mr Goodwin was only told of his disgrace minutes before the official announcement was made. Given his high profile and public unpopularity, due to his refusal to give up a multimillion-pound pension, Mr Goodwin has clearly been targeted by the Conservatives/Liberal Democrats to soothe the British public’s anger towards bankers.
