Spare a thought for ex RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin. This poor beleaguered chap has found his position untenable after RBS announced record losses and required another £13bn from the public purse to add to the initial £20bn that propped the company up.

Sir Fred (who was deservedly knighted for his services to banking in 2004) appears to have made a minor error of judgement in buying ABM Ambro in 2007 for a cool £49 billion (they must have been laughing all the way to the…………….).

This was of course despite the deep concerns of fellow executives at RBS. The problem with Sir Fred or “Fred the Shred” as he was known because of his ruthless and abrasive attitude (yes he was Scottish) was that he didn’t listen to anyone else, and anyone close to him was either in awe, or terrified of him. Bless him he loved firing people did Fred, especially those who might question his logic. A bit like a communist dictator he surrounded himself by yes men and ruled with a heady combination of charisma and fear.

Now it has all come crashing around him Sir Fred will have to survive the rest of his years on just £650k a year funded by an £18m pension pot. Knowing no bounds to his public spirited generosity Sir Fred has waived this years salary of £1.2m, and in 2007 the poor bastard only earned £4.2million.

Now poor Fred will have to spend his time partaking in his hobbies of restoring cars, golf and rugby, whilst having the added burden of being paid just half of his basic salary by the Great British taxpayer. Hopefully he will be able to sign on and get the interest paid on his mortgage.

I did some work with an electrical contractor last year and I am still owed £3k. Maybe it was an unwise decision working with them in the current climate, as I think they are struggling financially (who isn’t). However if they go bust and I don’t get my money, am I right in presuming the government will give it to me anyway.

Probably not, because in a normal business, you make mistakes, you pay the price, and you try to learn from it.

In banking you get rewarded.