Posts Tagged ‘Barclays Bank’

More Support to Gaza – 27th January 2024

Saturday, February 3rd, 2024

More Support to Gaza: Local actions took place across the country last weekend calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza and for an immediate ceasefire and freedom and a just peace in Palestine.

More Support to Gaza - 27th January 2024
Barclay’s Peckham branch

Most of the protests last Saturday were directed against local branches of Barclays Bank, demanding they stop bankrolling Israel’s attacks on Palestinians and calling customers to boycott the bank. Barclays has investments in weapons companies BAE Systems, Boeing, Elbit Systems, Raytheon all producing weapons and systems used in Gaza and Caterpiller whose bulldozers are used to demolish Palestinian homes, schools and civilian infrastructure.

More Support to Gaza - 27th January 2024
Barclay’s Peckham branch

The protests came the day after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, the UN’s top court, had ruled that there was a plausible case against Israel under the 1948 Genocide Convention, and that the Palestinian population in Gaza was at real risk of irreparable damage.

More Support to Gaza - 27th January 2024
Barclay’s Peckham branch

The ICJ stopped short of ordering an Israeli ceasefire and instead directed Israel to take every measure possible to avoid genocide while also ensuring humanitarian aid. The six provisional measures the court voted on to protect Palestinians from “irreparable” damage were all passed by overwhelming votes by the 17 judges, with even an Israeli judge supporting two of them, while a Ugandan judge voted against them all (although the Ugandan government issued a statement backing the ICJ).

More Support to Gaza - 27th January 2024
Barclay’s Whitechapel branch

Media reports here in the UK have generally been rather lacking in detail and have underplayed the ICJ judgement. You can read it on the ICJ web site in full or as their lengthy unofficial summary. The court demanded that Israel must:

  • take all measures in its power to prevent all acts against Palestinians in Gaza violating the Genocide Convention;
  • ensure its military does not commit any acts of genocide;
  • punish all incitements to commit genocide;
  • take immediate and effective steps to provide basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza;
  • take effective measures to preserve evidence related to allegations of genocide;
  • report to the ICJ within one month on actions it has taken over these orders.

The ICJ has no powers to enforce its decisions and statements from Israeli government and military have been defiant, while the UK and USA governments seem determined to continue their support for genocide and to continue giving support to Israel, including supplying weapons

Edmonton Green march to a rally at Silver St

The ICJ decision came after South Africa brought the case, but protesters around the world have been clear that this is genocide. And in December the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, continuing the work of Raphael Lemkin, the Polish lawyer of Jewish descent who coined the term genocide and campaigned to establish the Genocide Convention, issued a statement explaining “the reasons why we believe the Israel-Palestine situation constitutes an instance of genocide.”

Edmonton Green march to a rally at Silver St

The killing in Gaza continues, with over 26,000 Palestinians now known to be killed including over 10,000 children. More than 8,000 are missing, probably most of them buried under the rubble, and over 65,000 are severely injured.

Edmonton Green march to a rally at Silver St

A BBC report states that more than half of all buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the Israeli assault. There are also said to be almost 20,000 children in Gaza who have been orphaned or separated from their families. Other reports suggest that around three-quarters of Hamas fighters are men who became orphans, and so the current attacks are likely to be a powerful recruiting ground for future militants against Israel.

Edmonton Green march to a rally at Silver St

The whole Israeli policy over the years has been counter-productive. Peace in the region requires a thriving Palestine, not an area subjected to military occupation, under an apartheid system and subjected to destructive attacks – and certainly will not be achieved by genocide.

Edmonton Green march to a rally at Silver St

It’s very hard to see how any positive outcome can emerge now for Israel and Palestine, but perhaps the ICJ ruling is a small glimmer of hope – as years ago was Oslo. But hope then was soon defeated by Israel’s determination not to accept peace.

Edmonton Green march to a rally at Silver St

Last Saturday made my way around London on National Rail, Overground, Underground and Elizabeth Line to visit several pickets outside Barclays branches and then to Edmonton Green.

Edmonton Green march to a rally at Silver St

I arrived at Edmonton Green just in time for the march organised by the Enfield branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign to a rally at Silver Street. They demanded Israel ends its genocidal attack on Gaza, calling for an immediate ceasefire and an urgent programme of humanitarian aid to end famine and provide shelter, medicine and water. They praised South Africa for taking Israel to court for genocide and called for a just peace with freedom for Palestine.

At the start of the rally at Silver St

The pictures here come from protests outside Barclays branches on Rye Lane, Peckham and Whitechapel High Street and from the Edmonton march. You can see more pictures online at Barclays Told Stop Banking On Genocide and Enfield for Gaza Ceasefire, End to Occupation.


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A Walk In the City – March 1989

Tuesday, February 28th, 2023

My walk in the City of London towards the end of March 1989 began at Bank Station, perhaps because the Bank of England is in many ways the centre of the City, but probably also because until 1994 the Waterloo and City line was a part of our railway network and I could travel there as a “London terminus” on my rail ticket. In 1994 it became part of the London Underground (they paid £1 for it) and from then on I needed to pay them for the journey. I think back then there were no services on the “drain” on Saturday aftenoons or Sundays.

War Memorial, Bank of England, City, 1989 89-3d-64
War Memorial, Bank of England, City, 1989 89-3d-64

Over the years I’ve taken many slight variations on this picture with the London Troops War Memorial and the Bank of England. The memorial to the troops of London who died in the Great War was designed by Sir Aston Webb, with carving and lettering by William Silver Frith and the bronze figures by sculptor Alfred Drury and was unveiled on the day after the second anniversary of Armistice Day on 12th November 1920.

Later a further dedication to those who died in the Second World War was added. The quality of the statues and carving and overall its design make it one of the more impressive of war memorials. Grade II listed when I made this picture it was upgraded to II* more recently for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

The memorial stands in the triangle of public space in front of the Royal Exchange but this picture was taken from the side to include the Bank of England as the background. It’s perhaps slightly unfortunate that I included the sign for the public toilets at the bottom edge, useful though they were – and then like others in the City – free to use.

George & Vulture, George Yard, City, 1989 89-3d-52
George & Vulture, George Yard, City, 1989 89-3d-52

The George & Vulture describes itself as a City institution and there has been an inn on this site since 1142 or 1175, depending on who you believe – or 1600 according to my picture. Before the 1666 Great Fire there were supposedly two inns here, the earliest The George and a later establishment, The Lively Vulture, but they were amalgamated in the rebuilding.

It gets numerous mentions in Dicken’s Pickwick Papers and has been the headquarters of the City Pickwick Club since it’s inaugural dinner in March 1909 when it was founded incorporating his earlier Pickwick Coaching Club by Sir James Roll. Initially limited to 30 members that has increased over the years and in 2009 was raised to 100; they still meet for dinner there four times a year, and it is also host to other Dickens events.

Rather than a pub it is now a City chop house or restaurant, though open some evenings for cold plates and drinks; run by Samuel Smiths Old Brewery it offers a full range of their beers as well as other drinks.

Fountain, George Yard, St Michael's Alley, City, 1989 89-3d-53
Fountain, George Yard, St Michael’s Alley, City, 1989 89-3d-53

The City’s alleys have long fascinated many, and I’d first explored them before I was taking many photographs, following walks from one of many guides to London. It’s still easy to get a little confused in following them, particularly when some parts such as George Yard has changed rather.

You will search in vain for this fountain which then stood in the open area at the end of George Yard and St Michael’s Alley (though you could also reach it from Bell Inn Yard or Bengall Court and it was just a few steps from the end of Castle Court.

Fountain, George Yard, St Michael's Alley, City, 1989 89-3d-42
Fountain, George Yard, St Michael’s Alley, City, 1989 89-3d-42

Both the George & Vulture and the the Church of St Edmund the King in the background of this picture remain, but much of the rest around here has been replaced.

Fountain, George Yard, St Michael's Alley, City, 1989 89-3d-43
Fountain, George Yard, St Michael’s Alley, City, 1989 89-3d-43

I assume the statue was of St Michael and to me it and the mosaic floor have a look of the 1950s or 60s about them, but neither this statue nor the fountain in which it stood get a mention in any of the books about London I own. Most of my pictures were of the mermaids who obviously appealed to me more.

I have no idea what happened to these sculptures, and have been unable to find any more information about them. The yard is now home to rather Dalek-like structures, surrounded by seats and flower beds, presumably provided ventilation for areas below. The whole site on the west side of Gracechurch Street south of Bell Inn Yard which was the headquarters of Barclays Bank was redeveloped shortly after I made these images, with the distinctively curved 17 floors of 20 Gracechurch being completed in 1994.

Sculpture, Lombard St, City, 1989 89-3d-46
Sculpture, Lombard St, City, 1989 89-3d-46

I walked out onto Lombard Street where I made several exposures of this Grade II listed bronze ‘Chimera with Personifications of Fire and the Sea’ by Francis William Doyle-Jones from 1914 on the 1910 bank building. I was at the time thinking of putting together a compilation of pictures of London’s ‘topless’ women.

Sculpture, Lombard St, City, 1989 89-3d-33
Sculpture, Lombard St, City, 1989 89-3d-33

A wider view taken from the corner with Birchin Lane, where the view today is little different to that in 1989, except that the hanging TSB 1810 sign on Falcon House at left, there until 2016, has since been replaced by one peculiarly illegible one for Falcon Fine Art.

My walk around the city continued, though I’ve digitised relatively few pictures from it and soon moved away further east towards Spitalfields, as you will see in my next post on it.


Pride, Class War Protest and Paedophiles

Monday, June 27th, 2022

Pride, Class War Protest and Paedophiles – Saturday 27th June 2015 in London. And a rather fine stencilled grafitti which I’ve not seen elsewhere – and I suspect was very quickly removed. Banksy couldn’t have done a better job, though I could perhasp have got the bottom of the image in my picture. And I would have preferred a red bus, though at least the blue one means the bus stop stands out better.


Pride Parade – Baker St

Pride in 2015 had a little more political edge than in recent years as this was the 30th anniversary of the support it gave to the miners strike and there were rather more trade union and other groups trying to reclaim the event as the radical festival it was until around the late 1990s.

My photographs from 2015 reflect this, and as usual I paid little attention to the large corporate groups who now provide sponsorship which enables them to dominate the parade and advertise their services to the crowds who line the route.

Despite this, as I wrote in 2015, ” It seems a long way from the event when I first photographed it in the early 90s when Pride was a protest.”

Pride is also a considerably over-photographed event, with people with cameras and yet more with mobile phones swarming over the area before the parade starts. I don’t object to this as photography is very much a democratic medium, but it would be nice if rather more of them were polite enough not to walk in front of me when I’m taking pictures.

I note in one of the captions, “I got the queen to pose for me with a friend. And found I now had collected another ten photographers at my shoulders“. This is one of the few events where I do occasionally ask people to pose. This is something I think has little or no place in photographing protests and documenting events, but at Pride many pose as soon as they see the camera pointed at them, so I feel OK to sometimes ask them to perform a little differently, perhaps with a different background, as in the picture above.

I didn’t stay as long as usual photographing people before the parade began as I wanted to go and meet Class War who were planning a little diversion.

Pride Parade


Class War protest ‘corporate pinkwashing’ – Piccadilly Circus and Pall Mall

While many criticised the corporate takeover of Pride, and some had tried to oppose it by joining in the march as protesters, Class War had decided it was time for a more direct approach.

I met them outside a pub close to Piccadilly Circus and photographed them as they protested outside Barclay’s Bank at Piccadilly Circus against corporate sponsorship of Pride in London, briefly closing the branch as the parade approached. After this short protest which hardly attracted the attention of the police, they rolled up the banner and ran, following along the route and looking for opportunity to protest at the march itself.

On Pall Mall they found a place where the crowds were thinner and they could take over a section of the barriers along the road for the event. And as the flag bearers at the front of the parade came in sight they pushed those barriers aside and rushed out onto the street with their banner.

I rushed out with them and photographed them as for a minute or so they led the parade until Pride Marshals and police guided them back behind the barriers again.

They continued to protest with megaphone and banner for a few minutes as the parade arrived, but when they saw a squad of officers heading towards them they rolled up the banner and hastened away. I followed some down into the subway where they lost the police, coming out at another subway entrance. They began to discuss further interventions at the event, but I think probably went to a nearby pub after I said goodbye and left. Later I heard police had continued to follow some of the others for half an hour or so, but made no arrests.

Class War protest ‘corporate pinkwashing’


Victims & Survivors call for Justice – Downing St

It’s hard to assess some of the claims made by conspiracy theorists about paedophiles in high places and the activities of the family courts. Clearly the activities of people such as Jimmy Saville and Sir Cyril Richard Smith MBE MStJ DL have provided plenty of fire behind the clouds of smoke and many of those at this protest had very disturbing personal stories to tell.

So while many prominent claims have been found to be false, there also seem to be many cover-ups and failures to properly investigate; all too often the response by the authorities appears to be to close ranks, make false claims against the complainants and deny the realities.

Someone once said that around 30% of conspiracy theories turn out to be true. I’ve no idea whether this figure is accurate, but certainly it reflects the truth that some are. Its just very difficult to decide which.

While we can be confident that there are no chem trails (just atmospheric conditions that make normal combustion products visible), that Magna Carta doesn’t give us much in the way of freedoms now, that 9/11 actually happened and Trump lost the election some others are less certain. And while there are clearly not 76 paedophile MPs, there may well be a handful or so still lurking in the House of Commons, and certainly there have been some very questionable decisions made by family courts – or at least they would be very questionable if we were allowed to know about them.

Victims & Survivors call for Justice


Brixton Barclays

Monday, July 8th, 2019

Although my memories of the 1960s are far from clear, I’m fairly sure that the first protest I ever took part in, back when I was a student in Manchester was outside a Barclays Bank branch not far from the university in 1964. Then we were protesting against its support for Apartheid in South Africa, and stood outside handing out leaflets and calling on customers entering or leaving to move their accounts. At the time I think almost all banks were more ethical than Barclays.

A few years later, in 1969, students in the UK began the wider Boycott Barclays campaign, which became widespread and continued until after Barclays eventually sold their South African subsidiary in 1986. By then many people and organisations across society had withdrawn their accounts from Barclays causing them a loss of deposits estimated at around £6 billion a year and the number of new student accounts taken out each year had roughly halved.

It’s hard to understand why Barclays held out so long, allowing political and ideological positions to override a clear financial case for changing their policies, and disappointing that a business which had its roots in Quakerism was seen to become one of the dirtiest of banks. Perhaps as one of the largest transnational businesses in the world it simply decided it was not going to allow itself to be told what to do by protesters. But eventually it had to change.

Barclays is now under attack again for its support of fossil fuels and in particular of fracking, having invested more the $30bn in climate-wrecking fracking schemes, making it by far the worst bank in Europe. To have any chance of avoiding disastrous global warming we need to drastically cut the use of coal, oil, petrol and gas and other carbon-containing materials as fuel. Fracking not only produces dirty fuel, it also leads to extensive pollution of water sources and earthquakes; it has been banned in Germany, France, Ireland and Bulgaria in the EU and in other countries, provinces and states around the world, with further bans seeming likely.

After protesting on the busy main street in front of the Barclays branch for around an hour, the protesters held a short protest inside. They were asked to leave and agreed to do so after a few short speeches which made their position clear.

More at Climate Protest at Barclays Bank


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