The Prime Minister said:

"I welcome Forfeiture Committee's decision on Fred Goodwin's Knighthood. The FSA report into what went wrong at RBS made clear where the failures lay and who was responsible. The proper process has been followed and I think we've ended up with the right decision."

Hot off the press from Government

It will soon be announced in the London Gazette that the Knighthood conferred upon Fred Goodwin as a Knight Bachelor has been cancelled and annulled.

This decision, not normally publicised in advance, was taken on the advice of the Forfeiture Committee, which advised that Fred Goodwin had brought the honours system in to disrepute.

The scale and severity of the impact of his actions as CEO of RBS made this an exceptional case.

In 2008 the Government had to provide £20bn of new equity to recapitalise RBS and ensure its survival and prevent the collapse of confidence in the British banking and payments system. Subsequent increases in Government capital have brought the total necessary injection of taxpayers' money in RBS to £45.5bn.

Both the Financial Services Authority and the Treasury Select Committee have investigated the reasons for this failure and its consequences. They are clear that the failure of RBS played an important role in the financial crisis of 2008-9 which, together with other macroeconomic factors, triggered the worst recession in the UK since the Second World War and imposed significant direct costs on British taxpayers and businesses. Fred Goodwin was the dominant decision maker at RBS at the time.

In reaching this decision, it was recognised that widespread concern about Fred Goodwin's decisions meant that the retention of a Knighthood for "services to banking" could not be sustained.

Guy Opperman, Conservative MP for Hexham, sets out his views on the Falkland Islands ahead of a Parliamentary debate he has secured on their future tomorrow.

In the 1982 Falkland Islands war 255 British troops, and 650 Argentinean troops died. As the 30th anniversary approaches, and Prince William prepares to be deployed there as a search and rescue pilot, tensions are rising. Tomorrow parliament will be debating the future of the Falkland Islands.

All would agree that there is no such thing as a good war. But in 1982 people died because Politics, Governments and individual leaders failed them. It is our job in the House of Commons to make sure this does not happen again.

Saturday's politics column, looking at the two senior civil servants creating a secret sense of regionalism.

THE Coalition has a trust problem, one the North East has yet to figure out how to play.

I HAVE to admit, I am positively surprised at how dedicated I have been - at least so far - to go for a run.

When Sunday morning came and I saw the thick frost outside, I could have grumbled about having a duvet day and stayed where it was nice and cosy. Instead, I pulled on my hat and gloves and set out.

(I should clarify, I was also wearing running leggings, shorts, a T-shirt and hooded top - not just my hat and gloves. Now, that would be chilly)!

Health Minister Anne Milton has given a robust performance on serious health problems in the North East in the face of Labour MPs claiming that cuts present a "clear and present" danger in terms of worsening the situation.

The main thrust of her argument was that the Government can only do so much, which sparked anger from Labour benches.

She said: "However, the major part of poor health in the area will be remedied only by widespread changes in behaviour.

"It is this Government's policy to encourage people to change how they live--[ Interruption. ] Hon. Members might gain slightly more from this debate if they listened to the answers rather than shouting at me from across the Chamber.

"We cannot frog-march people out of the off-licence, compel them to stop smoking or force them to practice safe sex.

"Our challenge is to make the case that freedom without responsibility is not sustainable, so for the first time, allowing for the progress of the Health and Social Care Bill through the House, the Secretary of State will have a specific responsibility to tackle health inequalities, whatever their cause, and will be backed up by similar duties-- [ Interruption. ]

For the Parliamentary debate, click here

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I wonder if those Tories and Lib Dem MP in the North will be a little nervous with an apparent acceleration of localising public sector pay - referred to as "regional" pay.

George Osborne ordered a review into the dumping of national pay bargaining in his autumn statement on the economy. But there is massive speculation he will bring those plans forward in the Budget on Wednesday.

Neil Foster, Policy and Campaigns Officer, Northern TUC, said: "The effect of localised or regionalised public sector pay would be to take wages from regions with the lowest average private sector wages such as ours and hand them to the one region with the most. It would be like Robin Hood in reverse.

WELL my Virgin London Marathon training has started in earnest - and I don't just mean finishing my colourful, homemade wall-chart showing my running schedule for the next 14 weeks.

(Though it does look pretty, even if I do say so myself. I'm going to give myself a gold star for every target I hit and draw a frowny face for every time I skip a session).

I digress...

WITH the hugely anticipated 2012 Olympic year now upon us, wherever you look there seems to be even more adverts for the latest diets, exercise classes and gym membership discounts than usual.

However, I have to confess, I've never really seen the point of making New Year's resolutions, especially ones to do with fitness and health. I just don't see why January 1 should hold any more significance over my life choices than, say, March 12.

I've always said that if there was something in my life I wanted to change, or a goal I wanted to achieve, I would just make plans to do it there and then and not wait until New Year's Eve to make some (possibly tipsy) declaration of what I hope to do in the year ahead.

The headline is right. Labour is advertising for an "Executive Director, Rebuttal and Policy" on a £66,000 salary.

The appointments come amid disquiet from Labour MPs about Ed Miliband's performance as their leader. Some of his performances at PMQs have come under particular fire.

So I thought it was interesting to note that one of the key responsibilities for the new job is: