How many other recipients of titles and awards have gone on to blot their copybooks in the succeeding years?
Whilst Fred Goodwin may have become a reviled figure and an easy target for the salving of the conscience of the establishment in general for having given him a knighthood in the first place, it certainly does appear that he has been made into a scapegoat when one considers:
1. How often and for what reasons this action is taken.
2. How many others were involved in the debacle that led to the collapse of so many financial institutions, and are equally culpable?
Obviously he is the highest profile of the bunch, and therefore is a good target, as the public roughly know who he is and what he did. Going for him therefore makes the public think that something has been done about it, but it is nothing but pure tokenism.
The whole Awards system need seriously looked at and reviewed and those candidates at the top of the Business sector need to be considered with great care. (if the system should even be retained in its current form)
The Awards system is so meaningless that he will probably not even miss it.