Why were people protesting at Barclays bank in Southampton?

Last Saturday, protesters from Extinction Rebellion and Palestine Solidarity Campaign lay outside Barclays on Above Bar Street to rail against the bank’s alleged 'funding of fossil fuel expansion and companies that manufacture weapons being used by the Israeli military'.

The ‘die-in’ tactic was intended to draw attention to the deaths resulting from climate change and the war in Gaza – both of which they claim are being funded by Barclays.

Climate and pro-Palestine campaigners staged a protest pretending to be dead outside Barclays on Above Bar Street (Image: Extinction Rebellion)

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign claims to have done research which suggests the bank has invested in companies used by Israel in the war in Gaza.

They also claim Barclays is the biggest fossil fuel funder of any UK bank.

Activists are now calling on Barclays customers to boycott the bank on February 9, as part of a national campaign by Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

A spokesperson for the campaign said: “We’re asking everyone with a Barclays account to pledge to close it on a single day, Friday 9 February 2024, to have the most impact.”