Sunday 22 August 2010

Scotland - protesters aim to shut bank HQ



PROTESTERS are aiming to shut down a bank's HQ on Monday as the culmination of days of action.

They have set up a camp right next to the offices in Scotland and there have already been clashes with police.

The BBC reports that two women have been arrested after the climate change protesters attacked the Royal Bank of Scotland's Edinburgh headquarters on Sunday.

It says: "More than 100 protesters took part in the action, which also involved an oil-like substance being thrown at the building and windows being smashed.

"Campaigners bearing a banner reading 'Greedy pigs, bankrolling the climate crisis' tried to enter the bank's headquarters."

The Camp for Climate Action website explains it is a "grassroots movement taking direct action against the root causes of climate change".

It adds: "After mobilising and helping stop the proposed third runway at Heathrow and a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth, we're growing into a mass movement reclaiming our future from government and profit-hungry corporations.

"This year we're targeting the Royal Bank of Scotland.

"Last year RBS were bailed out with £50 billion of public money. This bank is one of the world's largest investor in oil, gas and coal. From tar sands extraction in Canada to coal infrastructure here in the UK, we're paying to trash our future.

"These projects are not just causing catastrophic climate change, but destroying the lives and livelihoods of people across the globe. Meanwhile, we're told there is no money left and we should be braced for decades of public sectors cuts.

"Ecological destruction is built into the mechanics of the financial system, with communities disenfranchised from their own futures. This is why people from across the UK will be converging to take back the power and Break the Bank!"

UPDATE: REPORT FROM INDYMEDIA

People resisting climate change closed down the Royal Bank of Scotland's Global HQ at Gogarburn near Edinburgh and took direct action at numerous sites throughout Edinburgh today 23rd August.

The Camp for Climate Action said: "We are celebrating a successful day targeting various climate criminals - holding direct actions, demonstrations and street theatre confronting the role of financial institutions like RBS in bankrolling climate change."

Harry Reynolds who took part in the actions said:
“No one came to work today at the RBS Gogarburn headquarters. Since we had already effectively shut that down, we decided to concentrate our energies targeting RBS and its fossil fuel affiliates in the Edinburgh city centre. We’ve done a lot to disrupt RBS dirty energy operations today, but we are committed to keeping up the pressure until we manage to cut off the flow of capital from the banks to the fossil fuel industry.”