Sir Fred Goodwin has lost his knighthood.

Former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin has lost his knighthood.

The government took the rare step of stripping former Royal Bank of Scotland chief Fred Goodwin of his knighthood, following intense criticism of his role in RBS' near-collapse during the 2008 credit crisis, and public anger towards wealthy bankers.

"The failure of RBS played an important role in the financial crisis of 2008-9 which, together with other macroeconomic factors, triggered the worst recession in the UK since the Second World War and imposed significant direct costs on British taxpayers and businesses," the government said in a statement.

"Fred Goodwin was the dominant decision maker at RBS at the time," it added, explaining a decision taken by a committee of civil servants.

Goodwin had been awarded the knighthood in 2004 for services to banking, but has since come under heavy criticism from the public after taxpayer funds were used to bail out the stricken bank.

The government said it would soon be announced that Goodwin's knighthood had been "cancelled and annulled."

The Scottish banker spearheaded RBS' disastrous acquisition of Dutch bank ABN AMRO, which nearly caused the collapse of RBS during the 2008 crisis.

Sir Fred Goodwin has lost his knighthood.

RBS ended up having to be propped up with 45 billion pounds of taxpayers' money, with the government finishing up with an 83 percent stake in the bank.

It is very rare for Britain to remove people of their knighthoods, and Goodwin joins the ranks of figures such as former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu who forfeited an honorary knighthood.

The woes of RBS have come to symbolise for many in Britain more serious problems with the country's banking industry.

Many are still angry at the fact that bankers are continuing to get paid millions while elsewhere thousands lose their jobs as the economy weakens.

On Sunday, the current chief executive of RBS - Stephen Hester - was forced to decline a million pound share bonus after the award had been attacked by all major British political parties.

©Reuters 2012

Ex-Army chief in Falklands warning

Ex-Army chief in Falklands warning.

British armed forces would be unable to reclaim the Falkland Islands if they were seized by Argentina, the former head of the Army has said.

General Sir Mike Jackson believes the demise of jets capable of launching from aircraft carriers would make it "just about impossible" to recover key strategic strongholds.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Sir Mike said British defences on the Falklands have improved "by a factor of several tens" since 1982. But the 67-year-old conceded losing the islands - which Argentina calls the Malvinas - is not out of the question, saying, "never say never".

He told the newspaper: "The official answer will be that it would not be possible for the Argentinians to gain a foothold on the islands, in particular to take Mount Pleasant airfield, which is key to the British defence plan.

"We have a large international-sized airfield to allow for very rapid reinforcement by air, should circumstances so require. But I suppose I have learned in life, never say never. What if an Argentinian force was able to secure the airfield? Then our ability to recover the islands now would be just about impossible.

General Sir Mike Jackson has said British armed
forces would be unable to reclaim the
Falkland Islands if they were seized by Argentina

"We are not in a position to take air power by sea since the demise of the Harrier force."

Tensions have been mounting between Argentina and the UK following months of escalating rhetoric. Buenos Aires reacted angrily in 2010 when Britain allowed offshore drilling for oil in the islands' waters, and the Argentinians were also irritated by the recent announcement of Prince William's forthcoming RAF posting to the islands.

The latest volley of comments has seen the South American country's president, Cristina Fernandez, hitting back at David Cameron, who accused Argentina of colonialism. She said: "When they say these things it's exactly because they don't have reasons or arguments."

Asked about job cuts in the armed forces, Sir Mike said the fewer numbers were not too much of a problem as long as the UK is not engaged in a one-on-one battle with another country. "This will be the smallest Army since the Napoleonic wars, he said. "My understanding is that we're heading for 82,000.

"Right now there is no existential threat to the UK. It's very hard to see when we would be involved in state-on-state warfare which threatens the existence of this country. If that were to happen, there would be time to move back to where we used to be."


© Press Association 2012