Many readers of this blog would probably be shocked to learn that their money – as UK taxpayers – is helping to prop up a bank which is investing in companies which produce illegal weapons.
But that is exactly what is happening with Royal Bank of Scotland (including Nat West), a government-owned bank which last year gave an $80million (£48.8million) loan to companies which help produce cluster bombs – weapons which the UK Government actually outlawed last year.
A recent nationwide opinion poll found that nearly eight out of ten people in Great Britain said RBS shouldn’t be allowed to make these kind of investments.
Cluster bombs are large explosive weapons that scatter dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions over a wide area. They cannot distinguish between military targets and civilians. One third of all recorded cluster bomb casualties are children. Yet despite efforts to ban these indiscriminate weapons, 138 banks and other financial institutions continue to invest over US$20 billion in companies that produce them.
I imagine most of us in Sheffield would agree. Amnesty International is urging RBS to stop using our money to make investments in companies that make illegal weapons.
For more information visit
http://blog.protectthehuman.com/clusterbombs/
But that is exactly what is happening with Royal Bank of Scotland (including Nat West), a government-owned bank which last year gave an $80million (£48.8million) loan to companies which help produce cluster bombs – weapons which the UK Government actually outlawed last year.
A recent nationwide opinion poll found that nearly eight out of ten people in Great Britain said RBS shouldn’t be allowed to make these kind of investments.
Cluster bombs are large explosive weapons that scatter dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions over a wide area. They cannot distinguish between military targets and civilians. One third of all recorded cluster bomb casualties are children. Yet despite efforts to ban these indiscriminate weapons, 138 banks and other financial institutions continue to invest over US$20 billion in companies that produce them.
I imagine most of us in Sheffield would agree. Amnesty International is urging RBS to stop using our money to make investments in companies that make illegal weapons.
For more information visit
http://blog.protectthehuman.com/clusterbombs/
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