Bank protest over tar sands investment

Members of the World Development Movement, chaired in Bexhill and Hastings by Denis Lucey, campaigned for two hours outside the bank which they claim has invested in oil companies which disregard human rights and contribute to climate change.

The event was part of a nationwide week of protests at the activities of The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the group which owns Natwest, to tie in with the RBS AGM, held on April 28.

Denis said: "We are calling on the government to force RBS to stop investing taxpayers' money in tar sands companies because of the devastating impact it has on indigenous communities and climate change.

"Since the bail-outs, RBS has continued to use our money in highly damaging ways, and this has to stop."

Campaigners claim RBS has invested around $7billion USD in tar sands extraction in Canada.

An RBS spokesman said: "We are fully committed to renewable power project financing and are involved in financing proposals for on-shore and off-shore wind power generation, offshore transmission, selected biomass technologies and certain solar PV projects.

"We are determined to play our part in the global shift to a more efficient, innovative and equitable use of resources."