Somebody got it wrong with both his salary and pension plan, but to hear the Chancellor on the radio this morning suggesting that Fred could make it alright by waving his pension is like expecting all the turkeys to vote for Christmas and Thanksgiving on one day. It just won’t happen.
And why should Fred do the right thing. He surely has a duty to himself and his family both now and in the past and it is clear that he placed that duty above the duty he had to shareholders and the nation. Otherwise we wouldn’t be in this mess and have a 70-80% ownership of a bank.
Whilst the Govt may or may not be able to do something about his pension, I would be delighted to see him stripped of his Knighthood, probably given for “Services to Banking”. That would be both humiliating and more importantly: it is in the Govt’s gift to do so.
So – Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown – stop dithering, don’t expect Sir Fred to bow to pressure of any sorts, just strip of something that he probably holds very dear. And let it be known that the Knight Formerly knows as Sir Fred is now to known as Fred for services to nationalisation.
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I qualified in 1963 and am still working as a GP so have completed nearly half a century of quite genuine service to patients, by whom I seem to be fairly well regarded. This includes a period of a number of years as a single-handed practitioner when I covered my own night and weekend calls. I am sorry to hear of the “stress” and worry of Mr Goodwin”s job but wonder how he would cope with taking life or death decisions at a moments notice on his own in the middle of the night? My pension is a little over £30,000 per annum and nobody ever even suggested giving me or any of my colleagues a bonus. Why bonuses simply for doing what one is paid to do – and apparently paid quite extravagantly well? I too would love to see this man stripped of his knighthood – a status which used to stand for chivalry and honour.