Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice, today formally requested the Forfeiture Committee to consider stripping Sir Fred Goodwin of the knighthood he was awarded in 2004 for "services to banking".

In a letter to the Chairman of the Committee, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, the MP said it was wholly inappropriate for Sir Fred to retain the high honour of a knighthood given his role in the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland and his determination to hold on to his £700,000 a year pension.

The MP raised the issue at a meeting this morning of the Public Administration Select Committee which held a one-off session on the operation of the honours system.

Speaking after the meeting, the MP said: "Fred the Shred ought to do the right thing and return his knighthood. But if he won't, then he should be unceremoniously stripped of it."

Note to Editors: The MP's letter is below

Sir Gus O'Donnell KCB

Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service

70 Whitehall

London

SW1A 2AS

23 April 2009

Dear Sir Gus

Sir Fred Goodwin

I am writing to request the Forfeiture Committee to consider whether Sir Fred Goodwin should retain the knighthood awarded to him in 2004 "for services to banking".

I touched on this during the Public Administration Select Committee session this morning on the operation of the Honours System.

In an answer to a Parliamentary Question on 12 February, the Prime Minister told me the arrangements for the Forfeiture Committee are those set out by the then Prime Minister, Sir John Major, in 1994.

I am told that "cancellation is considered in cases where retention of the appointment or award would bring the honours system into disrepute".

I understand there are no set guidelines for cancellations which are considered on a case by case basis.

Sir Fred’s role in the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland and his refusal to countenance any reduction in his grotesquely extravagant £700,000 a year pension convinces me it would be wholly inappropriate for him to retain the high honour of a Knighthood.

Yours sincerely

Gordon Prentice MP