http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16821650
So, in a move completely unrelated to the furore over Stephen Hester's bonus, the Queen has decided to strip Fred Goodwin of his Knighthood on the advice of the Prime Minister and his advisers.
Ironic that they selected a Scottish banker to make an example of considering the number of titles that have been stripped from incumbents throughout British history for 'Jacobite rebellion'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revocations_of_appointments_to_orders_and_awarded_decorations_and_medals_of_the_United_Kingdom
I wonder if this is a move towards a more plebiscitary approach to honours. Since Goodwin hasn't carried out any of the traditional activities that lead to honours being stripped (fraud, rebellion, treachery, bigamy and the theft of livestock) the only reason that this can have happened is the massive popular demand for the revocation.
If we do get to select as a population who gets Titles and who doesn't then I'd like to make a few suggestions of people we could strip of their honorary Knighthoods (posthumously):
- Constantin von Neurath - for holding high office under the Nazi regime, being a member of the Party and an honorary SS officer and having been convicted at the Nuremburg trials.
- Suharto - for the massacres carried out during the invasion of East Timor, massive corruption and imposing dictatorial rule over the Indonesian people.
- King Leopold II of Belgium - for the genocide of the people of the Congo in pursuit of personal profit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_honorary_British_knights_and_dames
I mean seriously, nobody likes to see bankers get huge bonuses for running their banks into the ground but we should try and keep a sense of perspective. Blatantly political actions like this can only further devalue an already silly institution.
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