Goodwin Knighthood Loss a Watershed as U.K. Gets Tough

"All this song and dance about the knighthood is a sideshow," Mark Field, the lawmaker from Cameron's Conservative Party who represents London's financial district, said in a telephone interview. "I'm much more concerned that he's collecting 370,000 pounds a year in pension."

"It is a token gesture to strip Fred Goodwin of his knighthood, but one which will be well received by the thousands of workers who lost their jobs during his rule," David Fleming, spokesman for the Unite union, which represents bank workers, said in an e-mailed statement. "Action from the government is needed in banking reform, not simply empty rhetoric on knighthoods or shareholder activism."