Brown under fire over links to ex-bank chief

GORDON BROWN'S closeness to former Royal Bank of Scotland chief Sir Fred Goodwin came under fire today amid calls for him to be stripped of his knighthood.

The ex-chief executive, nicknamed "Fred the Shred", instigated the acquisition of Dutch bank ABN-Amro that placed a toxic loan timebomb at the heart of one of Scotland's oldest financial institutions. Yesterday, Mr Brown refused to say if Sir Fred should lose his knighthood. "It is not for me to talk about what action, for example the Financial Services Authority, or any other authority, takes," he said, adding: "I'm angry about what happened at the Royal Bank of Scotland."

But the Tories pointed out that the Prime Minister had strong links to the RBS chief for nearly a decade and they remained close even after the ABN takeover. Mr Brown began to fall out with his former ally as the scale of the credit crunch became clear.