HE oversaw the most spectacular corporate collapse in British history - but still leaves the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) with a pension worth a staggering �1,900 a day.
HE oversaw the most spectacular corporate collapse in British history - but still leaves the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) with a pension worth a staggering �1,900 a day.
Sir Fred Goodwin will pocket a cool �80 an hour, even when he's asleep - all for racking up losses of �24billion and forcing hard-up taxpayers to bail out his stricken bank.
So today, as the 50-year-old fat cat continues to resist government attempts to strip him of his diamond encrusted golden handshake, The Evening Star is pledging to de-knight the shamed banker.
From now on, this newspaper will only refer to the Scottish bungler - who doesn't have any banking qualifications - as Fred Goodwin.
As Joe Public struggles under the weight of a crippling recession, there has been widespread anger over Goodwin's enormous retirement pot.
Prime minister Gordon Brown described the gold-plated fund as “unjustifiable and unacceptable”.
Meanwhile, around 7,000 people have added their names to a Facebook protest group calling on Goodwin's �703,000-a-year pension to be forfeited.
Ipswich MP Chris Mole added his voice to the calls for Goodwin to reject the cash.
“This sort of pension comes from an era of banking rewards which has got to stop,” he said.
“It's wrong that he's had a reward which does not reflect his performance or contribution to the business.
“If the money can be recovered, that's what should happen.”
Goodwin, who presided over RBS's rapid rise to global prominence before its collapse, claims the government was aware of his pension package, which was agreed in October 2008.
He took early retirement on January 31 this year - a month before RBS announced its giant losses.
As the fall out from the RBS collapse continues to shake the banking industry, further details of Goodwin's regime have emerged.
It has been reported that he and his colleague's �17.5m private jet will be flogged by the bank to save cash. The top-of-the-range aircraft costs �9,000-an-hour to run and was used by the former finance chief and other bankers to fly the globe in luxury.
However, according to experts, the Falcon 900 EX jet could be difficult to shift as the credit crunch bites due to its unusual triple-engine design which makes it especially fuel-hungry.
Are we right to revoke Fred Goodwin's knighthood? Should he give up his pension? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
Fastfacts: Fred Goodwin
Goodwin told MPs that he had a law degree and was a qualified chartered accountant - but had no banking qualifications.
He is the son of an electrical engineer and was the first of his family to go to university, studying law in Glasgow
He joined the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1998 as deputy chief executive
His one passion, outside the cut and thrust of the boardroom, is restoring vintage cars
He was knighted in 2004 - for his services to banking
How can Fred Goodwin spend his cash?
A year's pension could be splashed out on the title of lord of the manor of Townhead - a pretty Georgian mansion in the north Lancashire countryside.
There is one small catch - the house needs at least �1 million spent on it. Not that such an issue would be a problem for Goodwin, who could easily dip into his multi-million fortune (presumably not deposited in a Royal Bank of Scotland account).
For a similar sum, Goodwin could have bought the rights to Jade Goody's wedding photos.
The snaps of the former Big Brother star tying the not to her criminal beau Jack Tweedy were up for grabs for the modest sum of �700,000.
Sadly for Goodwin, he was beaten to it - celeb magazine OK forked out for the privilege of owning the pictures.
Known for his passion for classic cars, Goodwin could haul himself into the 21st century by landing himself a new set of wheels.
His annual windfall is enough to buy him eight �88,000 BMW M6 convertibles, five �145,000 Lamborghini Gallardos, or - if he's keen to keep a slightly lower profile (for obvious reasons) - 84 Ford Fiestas.
Goodwin's retirement pot is enough to buy him - every year - 138,600 copies of the Dire Straights album, Money for Nothing.
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