The former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Fred Goodwin, has had his knighthood stripped by Queen Elizabeth II over his role in the bank's near-collapse in 2008, it was announced on Tuesday. There have been growing calls for Goodwin, nicknamed "Fred the Shred", to lose the honour after the bank required a massive government bailout and had to shed thousands of jobs.
The total injection of taxpayers' money into RBS so far amounts to £45.5 billion ($71.5 billion, 54.8 billion euros). A statement from the Cabinet Office, the government department that handles the honours system, said Goodwin had brought the system into "disrepute". "The Knighthood conferred upon Fred Goodwin as a Knight Bachelor has been cancelled and annulled," a statement said.
"This decision, not normally publicised in advance, was taken on the advice of the Forfeiture Committee, which advised that Fred Goodwin had brought the honours system into disrepute."
Prime Minister David Cameron said the highly unusual move was the "right decision". Until now, only convicted criminals and people struck off by professional bodies have had knighthoods taken away.
Goodwin came to symbolise the financial crisis in Britain after he oversaw the disastrous multi-billion-pound deal to buy Dutch rival ABN Amro at the height of the crisis in 2007, which led to RBS having to be bailed out.
The queen awards honours for a wide range of achievements, either to public servants, sportsmen, top business figures or ordinary citizens who have served their community with distinction.
Goodwin received his knighthood in 2004 under the Labour government of Tony Blair for services to banking. Cameron said he welcomed the decision to strip Goodwin of the honour. "The FSA (financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority) report into what went wrong at RBS made clear where the failures lay and who was responsible," he said.
"The proper process has been followed and I think we've ended up with the right decision." Unite, one of Britain's largest unions, said it was a "token gesture", but national officer David Fleming added that it was "one which will be well received by the thousands of workers who lost their jobs during his rule".
"Nonetheless this will do nothing to bring job security to the staff across the banking sector who continue to work under a culture of excess and greed at the top," he added.
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