St Andrews won’t take away degree

FRED Goodwin will not have his honorary degree from St Andrews University withdrawn, despite students’ calls for it to be stripped along with his knighthood.

By The Newsroom

Published 2nd Feb 2012, 00:00 BST

The university said it would not be making the “precipitate gesture” of revoking Mr Goodwin’s honorary degree.

“Fred Goodwin was given an honorary degree in good faith by the university in 2004, shortly after he had been knighted and in the same year that Forbes magazine had made him Businessman of the Year and Scotland on Sunday declared him ‘Number One Scot’,” a spokeswoman said.

“Clearly a great deal has changed since that time. The university is sensitive to the varied opinions expressed about Mr Goodwin’s part in the collapse of RBS and its damaging effects on the economy and the lives of many thousands of people.

“Revoking the degree, however, cannot change history, nor ameliorate the harm done by the banking collapse.

The University of St Andrews Students’ Association has called for the degree to be revoked.