Steve Beasant

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable has written to Alistair Darling asking that he stop any further pension payments to Sir Fred Goodwin. It follows a whistleblower account of corporate waste and greed at the RBS revealed by the Liberal Democrats.

The anonymous account of behind-the-scenes activities at RBS reveals a culture of extravagance and greed, including the multi-million pound refurbishment of a building for Sir Fred Goodwin’s hospitality use, £1,000-a roll wallpaper and £100,000+ per month chauffeur bills over and above the staff chauffeurs used by top executives.

Vince Cable said: “These revelations show a shocking culture of extravagance and greed at RBS at the expense of savers and shareholders.

“This scandal shows a complete failure of corporate governance and raises a host of legal issues.

“The Government should not pay a penny more to Sir Fred Goodwin. We can then let the courts decide whether it should be stopped entirely on the grounds of negligence or fraud.”

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott added: “In my 33 years as a pension fund manager I have never seen such greed and waste in a large company.

“‘Sir Fred’ was clearly not grand enough for him – it looks like the Court of King Fred the First of Scotland, with directors and auditors as well fed lap dogs around the throne.”