apparently, does this suprise anyone in the entire country?
Fred Goodwin, is, apparently not staying in the UK at the moment, he is staying abroad, does this suprise anyone?
Apparently his freinds have said 'this is taking things too far'
I think the reporters missed a trick here, they should have followed up by asking the freinds 'how far should these people take it exactly?'

meanwhile some criticism is being levelled at his public critics (Brown/Harman etc) for being hippocritical and deflecting their own incompetance/culpability and that they are making him a scapegoat.

2 things.....just because politicians are sincerity challanged doesnt mean everyone else is, and if policiticans cant say anything (lest they be hippocritical) then they would never voice any of the publics criticism to anyone
also the people deflecting to the policiticans are doing the same thing they accuse the policiticians of deflecting blame and maki9ng other scapegoats