Goodwin gets heave-ho from the RAF

Sir Fred 'the Shred' Goodwin has resigned as an honorary air commodore for the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. The Sunday Telegraph claims that the disgraced banker did not go of his own volition, but did so under pressure from senior officers. "He has offered his resignation and we have accepted," confirmed a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence.

The former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, who has taken a public hammering for his stewardship of the banking giant and for the subsequent £700,000-a-year pension, was appointed last May to No 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron, one of the most prestigious Royal Auxiliary squadrons, with the approval of The Queen.

"A key part of the role of an honorary air commodore is to help make sure that the image of the squadron is high," a member of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force told the Sunday Telegraph. "Clearly, not only would Fred be no help in this, but he could bring negative publicity."

A spokesman for Goodwin, seeking to explain his resignation, said the banker had been given the honorary role in order to recruit staff to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. "As one of the biggest employers in Scotland, he felt he could really add something to it. Now that's not the case, and he didn't want to stand in the way of someone else who could make a more significant contribution. He did not stand down as a result of pressure from officials."

Whatever the truth of the matter, this is not the first setback for Sir Fred, who is currently living in exile near Cannes in the south of France. His name was recently withdrawn from the waiting list of applicants to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club after members objected to his candidacy. And last month he finally agreed to forfeit £200,000 of his controversial annual pension.