Sir Fred Goodwin – a clarification

Local MP John Hemming recently used Parliamentary privilege to name former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin as a banker.

The honourable member for Yardley said during a Commons business debate yesterday, “In a secret hearing, Fred Goodwin has obtained a super-injunction preventing him being identified as a banker.”

Before this intervention, nobody was allowed to name Sir Fred, who stepped down as RBS chief executive in October 2008 with the bank on the brink of collapse and received a £3 million pay-off plus an annual pension of £500,000, as the man who took out the injunction, granted by Mr Justice Henriques in the High Court.

Naturally, we are keen to support the rights of the individual and are happy to say Fred, you’re not a banker. Well, not exactly a banker.