Bankers¿ greed and a matter of dishonour

By
Daily Mail Comment

Last updated at 11:17 PM on 31st January 2012

When the Mail first reported MPs’ demands that Fred Goodwin should be stripped of his knighthood, we warned that such decisions should be reserved strictly for the most exceptional cases.

Otherwise, we argued, the honours system could all too easily be abused as a means of settling old political scores, with governments cancelling the garlands bestowed by their predecessors.

We believed, however, that the case for making an example of the then Sir Fred was indeed exceptional and compelling.

Just plain Fred: The removal of his knighthood means a manifest wrong has been put right

Just plain Fred: The removal of his knighthood means a manifest wrong has been put right

As the dominant force in RBS, he was the figure most closely associated with the banking crisis of 2008 – the personification of the City’s greed and recklessness, from which millions will continue to suffer for decades.

It seemed a supreme and distasteful irony that in 2004, at the height of his brief and illusory success, this man who played a central role in triggering a devastating recession was awarded a knighthood for ‘services to banking’.

After a full assessment of the case – including the findings of the Financial Services Authority and the Treasury Select Committee – the honours Forfeiture Committee has now reached the same conclusion.

And as Sir Fred becomes plain Mr Goodwin again, a manifest wrong has been put right.

We say this in no spirit of vengeance or gloating (though many who have lost their livelihoods since 2008 may feel both). Rather, we hope that the humbling of Mr Goodwin will send a clear signal to bankers that they cannot go on as they have done, without bringing shame and opprobrium on themselves.

It was this same message that finally got through to Stephen Hester, Mr Goodwin’s successor, when on Sunday he turned down his near-£1million bonus.

But it still hasn’t begun to sink in to the rest of the City.

As the latest figures show, banks took in nearly £11billion more last year than they lent to cash-strapped firms, while extorting the highest interest rates since 2009 – and the steepest overdraft charges since records began.

Meanwhile, bankers themselves are looking forward to stuffing their pockets with another round of massive bonuses.

Mr Goodwin’s fate should teach them that today they have a clear choice. It lies between the dishonour of selfish greed – and their duty to help this nation out of the crisis they caused.

Bonfire of inanities

Nail technology services… horse care… fish husbandry… hair services… personal effectiveness…

Few will be surprised by the ruling that success in these courses – and 3,000 like them – will no longer lift a school’s ranking in the exam league tables.

Indeed, the only wonder is that certificates in such subjects, which have multiplied 40-fold in just six years, were ever deemed to be worth up to four good GCSE passes in the first place.

There has been a welcome rise in essential vocational subject at GCSE level, but many others are dead ends and a waste of resources

There has been a welcome rise in essential vocational subject at GCSE level, but many others are dead ends and a waste of resources

Let us be clear. Nobody values useful vocational training more than this paper – and we welcome Michael Gove’s decision that 125 of the more demanding courses will still count as GCSEs.

But the depressing truth is that the 3,050 on his blacklist are dead-ends, dismissed as valueless by colleges, universities and employers.

So isn’t it a shameful betrayal that teachers have encouraged teenagers to waste time on them, simply to improve their schools’ position in the tables and deceive parents and watchdogs?

Not for the first time, the Mail congratulates Mr Gove on his efforts to restore standards. He has a very long way to go. But after more than a decade in which ministers sought to conceal failure, it is refreshing to have an Education Secretary who seeks to expose it.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

Which honour can we strip off the “Honourable Member for Cowdenbeath” or is his punishment to hide forever under a rock whilst drawing a salary of 62k per year?

Does The DM seriously think that The Rich believe they owe a duty to This Country, that the word patriotism or the phrase “Our country” are ever uttered in our City boardrooms?

Is it a pre requisite that most of our government financial advisers and banking bosses have a Scots accent or even a Scots name? There seems to be some misapprehension that people who hail from north of the Border are better suited than the home grown variety, Now we have got the ball rolling lets see some mopping up of those who went to prison for defrauding the British people with their expenses claims. The selling of honours can be easily eliminated by having the Queen be responsible for the lot.

About time this` can of worms was opened` – This should just be the start of a
very interesting period.
`The Old Pals act and routine should be shown for just what it is!
Here`s a man who has commited no legal crime – but is stripped
of his title – `Just being used as a `skapegoat` Lets get after a few more!
If my memory serves me correctly, I can remember a peerage going to a certain Author – Who was convicted and went to prison – But still keeps his tiltle.
Can this be right?
Where is the fairness here in our so called `Big Society`??

In the US, over fifty bankers are now in jail for the part they played in the banking crisis.
In the UK, Fred Goodwin is stripped of a quaint medieval bauble of no significance.
Just about evens things up!!

One day we may thank God for giving us Michael Gove! At last, someone who
isn’t in the clutches of the modernist teaching cabal, which has done so much
to ruin the life prospects of most the Nation’s kids with it’s “prizes for all”
nonsense and it’s indifference to the basics of the three “R’s”! Another good
move from Gove, starting to dump all these Mickey-Mouse courses which have
given kids a false expectation that the world is just waiting for more “Nail
Consultants,” “Horse Whisperers” or any of those other odd-ball occupations
they think are vital to the UK’s economy! And you don’t even have to be able to read and write properly either – so that lets Teachers off the hook too! What a
great deceit these “Educationalists” have played on our kids, by leading them
to believe that the basics of literacy are unnecessary and that they can make
a good living by studying for all these dumbed-down courses – and trying to
make them believe they are as worthy as “proper” ones!

Why aren’t peers who deliberately made false expenses claims “exceptional cases”. Aren’t they guilty of “greed and a matter of ddishonour”?

he is no different to the rest of his ilk. GREED is the be all to end all!!

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