Shredding Sir Fred

A couple of years ago Sir Fred Goodwin was the most successful banker in Britain – the man who turned RBS into a global giant.
But how the mighty are fallen.
As of last week, he has been turned into the financial world's equivalent of a reckless driver. RBS is a twisted wreck and yet there he was walking into the sunset with a great pile of gold.
This reeks of injustice, and Sir Fred's moral compass seems stuck in an egotistical era that died in early 2007.
Some shocking revelations about the financial world have emerged during the banking crisis. The Government appears to have decided that the biggest scandal of all is this one. Over the weekend, it's made all sorts of noise about it.
What the noise amounts to is a series of increasingly menacing threats: cave in to our demands, Sir Fred, or we'll do you over.
I'm sceptical about all this for two reasons.
One is that, whether you like it or not, Sir Fred's pension happens to be completely legal.
It was agreed as long ago as October and only now, four months later and very suddenly, has it become an issue.
Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman yesterday seemed to be hinting that the entire machinery of British law making would be turned on the retirement benefits of one man.
Or, worse still, just shoved to one side so the Government can give him a financial kicking.
The second reason revolves around the Government's motivation. Why is it making such a clattering great fuss about something which will make not one jot of difference to the lives of you and me?
It might make people feel a bit better if a failed fat cat got his just desserts, but what would this populist revenge actually achieve? Will it bring people's jobs back? Will it stop firms failing? Will it make banks lend again? Will it end recession?
No. None of these things would follow.
Which leaves us looking at a rather cynical alternative. What it may do is divert attention from the fact that there is very little that any Government can do that will have any immediate impact on any of the problems facing the UK economy.
So if we can't hit recession, lash out instead at a symbol of its cause.
It is right and proper that any Government should highlight and, where necessary, rein in, what it considers to be excessive behaviour.
But it can't use law to reinvent history. Indeed, if Sir Fred Goodwin's pension is a symbol of the hubris of the banking world then may be it should stand. Its continuing presence might serve as a powerful reminder of the time when an industry completely lost touch with reality.
Sir Fred Goodwin's pension raises an important issue about the relationship between what people achieve and what they get paid. Equally, it raises questions about the Government's involvement with RBS: why did it sign-off a departure deal in October only to change its mind a few months later?
Both issues may best be resolved by looking forwards, not backwards. Sir Fred, now seen as damaged goods in the City, is unlikely to feature in that future.
Once a banking giant, Sir Fred's stubborn refusal to reconsider his pension in the wake of the collapse of the business he led makes him look like a small man. Haven't we got bigger fish to fry?