Another *anker

Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has obtained a super-injunction banning the publication of information about him, it has been disclosed on the floor of the House of Commons - a draconian injunction - so strict it prevents Goodwin being identified as a banker - was disclosed by John Hemming, a back-bench Liberal Democrat MP, in a question during a business debate at the House . His comments are protected by parliamentary privilege.Hemming, who used parliamentary privilege to avoid the legal ban on reporting the use of superinjunctions, asked: "Will the government have a debate or a statement on freedom of speech and whether there's one rule for the rich like Fred Goodwin and one rule for the poor?"

Super-injunctions are so strict that newspapers are banned from revealing their existence – let alone the information they are aimed at suppressing. Super-injunctions are clearly a favourite weapon of rich people with something to hide.

Nicknamed Fred "the shred" for his management style, presided over the near collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which had to be bailed out by the taxpayer.He left with a pension of £700,000 a year and a lump sum of nearly nearly £3 million. Following a public outcry he later agreed to reduce his payout by £200,000 a year. Goodwin seems to have put all that pain behind him as he was recently spotted enjoying a £25,000 shooting trip in Spain, hosted by another bank boss.