Pro-palestinian and climate activists disrupt Barclays AGM in Glasgow

Barclays faced a tense annual shareholder meeting as pro-palestinian and climate activists accused the board of choosing “profit over people and planet”.

Chairman Nigel Higgins was repeatedly interrupted as the meeting kicked off at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow yesterday. The UK’S biggest bank has recently come under fire for its links to defence firms that produce equipment used by the Israeli Defence Force for its attacks on the Gaza strip.

It has also been facing pressure from shareholder activists this year over its financing of fracking.

Ahead of the meeting, dozens of protesters held a demonstration outside the AGM as they urged the bank to divest.

Two figures dressed as the Grim Reaper stood watch over lines of child-sized coffins alongside a sign reading: “Bankrolling genocide”.

The black-clad “oil slick” silent performers from Extinction Rebellion were among those taking part, along with the Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Christian Climate Action, Fuel Poverty Action, Scottish Friends of Palestine and Biofuelwatch.

Protesters listened to speeches and chanted “Barclays divest, we will not stop, we will not rest” as well as the pro-palestinian “from the river to the sea” chant.

Elle Glenny, a protester from Tipping Point UK told the crowd:“barclaysboardofdirectors have the choice to be on the right side of history but again andagainandagaintheychoose profit over people and planet.”