News

In reaction to the decision to strip Fred Goodwin, the former chief of the Royal Bank of Scotland, David Fleming, Unite national officer commented: “It is a token gesture to strip Fred Goodwin of his knighthood, but 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. Action from the government is needed in banking reform, not simply empty rhetoric on knighthoods or shareholder activism.”

The government has stated that his knighthood was stripped because "the retention of a Knighthood for 'services to banking' could not be sustained." Goodwin left RBS in 2008 with a £16 million pension package as the bank was struggling with both the takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro and the financial crisis. The British government spent £45 million to bail-out RBS and now owns 82%. RBS has not responded to the annulment of his knighthood. UNITE argues that the gesture is appreciated, but it does not amount to reform.