Very few people have sympathy with former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin. He brought RBS to the brink of disaster yet managed to walk off with a substantial pension, though all of the £ 693,000 annual payment was not derived from RBS.
But this morning I heard what only could be described as a rant from former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on the Today programme.
What is now absolutely clear is that Gordon Brown's bluster about using all legal means to recover the RBS proportion of Goodwin's pension contribution is nonsense; HMG haven't a legal leg to stand on.
The mistake here rests entirely on the shoulders of Lord Myners who appeared to have failed to look at the pension provisions of the company. Bearing in mind the Treasury is stuffed to the gunwhales with lawyers, this amounts to gross negligence. Heads must roll.
Anyway, back to "two Jags" Prescott. He just lost it. He acknowledges that the legal route is blocked, but suggested that RBS should be instructed to stop the appropriate portion of Goodwin's pension. Then inviting Sir Fred to sue.
Firstly, it is unlikely the RBS board would engage in such an unlawful act.But more importantly, Goodwin would certainly sue the company and would succeed in the litigation.
I wonder who suggested this clown for the 8:10 Today spot. It was just too embarrassing for words.
Guido Fawkes points our Prezza's unbelievable hypocrisy here.
When he was sacked as Deputy PM, for generally being an embarrassing incompetent, he kept hold of his pension perks - including additional pension contributions from taxpayers even though he wasn't working for them. Blair even let him keep two grace-and-favour homes, while stripping him of his departmental responsibilities. At the time opposition politicians railed at Prezza's "rewards for failure".
Fascinating stuff. You might be interested to real a post of mine on this, at http://fizzogblog.typepad.com/fizzogblog/2009/02/a-dance-of-communal-greed.html.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 28 February 2009 at 11:44 AM