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Lord Myners 'knew about Sir Fred's deal and misled parliament'
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor31.03.09
CITY minister Lord Myners was under fresh pressure today after a senior banker accused him of misleading MPs over Sir Fred Goodwin's pension.
Former Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Tom McKillop flatly contradicted Lord Myners's claim that he was unaware that Sir Fred was getting a £700,000-a-year early retirement deal.
In a letter to the Treasury select committee, Sir Tom said there was "no elaborate ruse" by him or other members of the RBS board to pay Sir Fred more than he was contractually entitled to.
He insisted that the minister was told last October that the pension pot would be increased as a result of Sir Fred's early retirement. Senior Tory MP Michael Fallon said that Sir Tom's evidence proved that Lord Myners had "misled Parliament".
Mr Fallon, who is the deputy chairman of the Treasury select committee, said that Lord Myners' s position looked "pretty untenable" and called on him to resign.
Mr Fallon told BBC Radio 4's The World At One: "It flatly contradicts him because he told our committee that he didn't get any information about the pension, he didn't ask for information and he wasn't told about it."
"On the contrary, Tom McKillop makes it clear that Lord Myners was told each detail of the pension.
"Misleading Parliament is a serious offence; misleading the public is even worse. The honourable thing to do now would be to resign."
