Fred Goodwin stripped of knighthood

Former RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin has had his knighthood cancelled and annulled by the Queen.

The honours forefeiture committee met earlier today to decide on Goodwin's fate, prime minister David Cameron having referred the issue in response to growing public and political pressure. Goodwin presided over a huge expansion in the size of RBS between 2001 and 2008, culminating in the bank heading a £49bn consortium deal to buy Dutch bank ABN Amro at the top of the market in 2007. The banker was awarded the knighthood for services to banking in 2004 but became a focal point of public anger during the financial crisis after the government was forced to make a £45bn bailout of the b...