DEMO REPORT Saturday 22nd May Picket of Barclays, Brighton – A picket and stall was held outside Barclays on the 22nd May:
Brighton picket of Barclays
Category: Target Barclays
Manchester Barclays Picket
Manchester’s Target Brimar campaign held a picket and leafletting outside the Barclays Bank in Mosley Street in Manchester on 17th May 2010 in support of the EDO decommissioners and the campaign to persuade Barclay to stop providing market maker services to ITT.
Boris' Barclays Bikes targeted in London
Anti Arms Trade activists worked overnight to cover London’s new Barclays Bikes with stickers stating the Banking giant’s involvement in the global arms trade.
Almost 4000 of the stickers were placed on bikes all over the city last night. They were in the same shade of blue and in the same font that Barclays use and were so designed to blend in with the shameless advertising disgracing every single one of the bikes.
The messages were “INVESTS IN CLUSTER BOMBS. OFFERS LOANS FOR NEW LIMBS” – “DOESN’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU” – “£20M INVESTMENT IN BIKES. £7300M INVESTMENT IN BOMBS” – “FUNDING DEPLETED URANIUM BIRTH DEFECTS IN IRAQ” and “INVESTS £7.3 BILLION IN THE ARMS TRADE”.
A spokesperson for Transport for London (TfL) claimed that only around 100 bikes had been targeted but activists say this is a gross understatement, claiming to have distributed almost 4000 stickers.
At the Press launch this morning Barclays chairman Magnus Agius was asked his opinion on the stickers, to which he replied “I have nothing to say”. Funny that.
The bikes, which were launched in August and operate on a pay-as-you-go scheme, are covered in Barclays branding. The new wider cycle lanes launched across London recently are called ‘Barclays Cycle Superhighways’ and are painted in Barclays trademark cyan. Campaigners feel that, though the bikes are a step in the right direction, Barclays have exploited the scheme to be one big advertising campaign. No other city worldwide with similar schemes has been fully sponsored by one company. It is hoped the stickers will raise awareness of Barclays position as the largest investor in the arms trade in the world.
Later, in Leicester Square at a rally by Barclays to launch the bike scheme several protesters stormed the music stage with banners reading; “Barclays finances the arms trade”.
Antimilitarists take on Barclays
On Saturday 28th November protests took place in Brighton, Wrexham, Falmouth, Hastings, Tunbridge Wells and Cambridge [Pics] as part of a day of action marking the launch of Smash EDO’s‘Target Barclays’ campaign.On November 30th an action took place in Plymouth.
Smash EDO have been calling for autonomous actions against Barclays Bank to force them to stop providing ‘market maker’ services for ITT Corporation on the NYSE. Smash EDO’s site states ‘Bankers and institutional investors are the glue that finances the state terror wreaked by the arms trade. Companies like EDO do not operate in a vacuum but are propped up by the networks of corporations and investors which constitute the global capitalist system which puts profit before peace, greed before people.’
As ITT’s market maker, Barclay’s acts as a ‘middle man’, purchasing shares from a seller and holding them until such a time as a buyer becomes available. This ensures the stability of ITT’s share price by allowing shareholders to sell off their assets at any time, even when a buyer is not immediately available, and vice versa. Barclay’s also profits from this enterprise, by selling ITT’s shares at a small markup, which nevertheless generates a considerable income when spread across large sales. Barclays is also the largest UK investor in the global arms trade.More.
Target Barclays webpage| Smash EDO Press Release| Smash EDO website| Anti-Militarist Network
Smash EDO’s next big mobilisation is the REMEMBER GAZA SMASH EDO MASS DEMO JANUARY 18TH. Assemble at 1pm, Brighton, wear black.
barclays cambridge
Just after the Target Barclays campaign was announced three Barclays cash machines in Hemel Hempstead were sabotaged in solidarity with the resistance against the NATO parliamentary assembly in EdinburghOn the 28th a large demonstration was held in Brighton outside the bank’s North Street branch, a letter was handed in to the branch manager, thousands of leaflets were given out and two Barclays customers, after reading the leaflet, told picketers that they would close their accounts. A Barclays spokesperson, speaking to the Brighton Argus, said “Barclays Group provides financial services to the defence sector within a specific policy framework.” One can only guess that framework is to generate as much profit as possible for themselves
In Wrexham a picket was held outside the new local branch of Barclays and in Cambridge on the night of the 27th November a group of anonymous pixies scaled scaffolding above a Barclays branch and carved the words “Barclays – £7bn in the Arms Trade” in six foot letters(more pics) into tarpaulins. The message was still visible on the evening of the 28th. Pickets were also held outside Barclays Falmouth and Tunbridge Wells branches, while Barclays in Hastings was leafleted.
2009 has seen an increase in actions against investors in the arms trade. Smash EDO’s Mayday! Mayday! street party saw actions against Barclays, Mcdonalds, RBS and HSBC (all investors in ITT). This summer saw more actions at branches of RBS and HSBC against their arms trade investments.During this year’s Camp for Climate Action a mass action was held against Barclays, highlighting the link between Barclays dirty investments in coal and its arms trade investments. During the Disarm DSEi mobilisation a map was produced of arms trade investors in the city and, during the mass action, Barclays, RBS, Aviva, AXA, Legal and General and HSBC were targeted.
Actions across the UK for launch of Target Barclays campaign
On Saturday 28th November actions took place in Brighton, Wrexham, Falmouth and Cambridge to mark the campaign launch.
A large demonstration was held in Brighton, thousands of leaflets were handed out, two Barclays Customers, after reading the leaflet, agreed to close their accounts and a letter was handed in to the branch manager. The branch was guarded by a heavy police presence and private security, drafted in for the day, from the “Professional Witness Service”.
In Cambridge anonymous campaigners scaled scaffolding above a Barclays branch and carved ‘Barclays – £7bn invested in arms’ in 6 foot letters in tarpaulin. The message was still there the following day.
Hastings against the War also braved torrential rain to let their branch know that the campaign had begun by leafleting outside their local branch.
In Falmouth campaigners from Kernow Action Now (KAN) demonstrated outside their local Barclays.
In Wrexham the new branch of Barclays was picketed. Police also stood guard outside the Falmouth and Truro branches of Barclays.
Smash EDO are calling for groups to take autonomous actions against Barclays until Barclays cease providing market Maker services to ITT.
For more info about the Target Barclays campaign read Indymedia’s ‘Antimilitarists Take on Barclays’