Just Punishment

I had meant to remark upon my delight at hearing that Fred Goodwin had lost his knighthood. You see, for me this has significance because it is due to Fred Goodwin that I lost my job in 2005, a job I had held at one of the UK's largest insurers since 1989. Of course, I wasn't the only one affected as more than 500 staff suffered the same fate, the majority in IT roles such as mine. When I finally lost my job in the summer of 2005, I felt  terrible. I really enjoyed my job and had been loyal and committed to my work for over 15 years. I missed the routine and the teamwork. I did get a good redundancy payment and the novelty of having a large amount of money was great at first but soon wore off and dwindled away leaving me desperately searching for another job which I eventually found.
I recall very well a number of meetings where reassurances were given to staff that no jobs would be lost. I also recall an in-house video production in front of specially selected staff and presented by TV's Nick Ross. In it, he questioned Fred Goodwin on what the RBS takeover of Churchill Insurance would mean for the 70,000 staff in the group. Again reassurances were given.  But over the coming months, the real truth began to emerge and gradually IT functions began to be migrated to the RBS head office in Edinburgh. The end was in sight and we had all been let down, lied to and misled.
So it is no wonder that for me the news of Fred Goodwin losing his knighthood is good news, very good news. I want him to sample just a little of what I and many like me had to suffer in 2005. We lost our jobs, in some cases our livelihoods and more besides. He won't ever need to worry about money as despite everything, he still has lots of it. I doubt very much whether losing his knighthood will affect him very much. He'll no doubt feel humiliated at having to return to the ranks of a 'civilian'. For that I'm pleased. Just punishment for such an individual who nearly brought the country to its knees and caused countless families to endure financial hardship would be some kind of monetary penalty. He has an enormous pension paying a reported £60,000 per month. This should be taken away and his assets seized. Above all, this should be a lesson to others where greed is their only motivation.