University of Portsmouth students to stage 'die in' to protest against city council using Barclays bank

University of Portsmouth student Victoria Yates at a Boycott Barclays stall

STUDENTS from the city’s university are staging a ‘die in’ protest in a bid to get two of the city’s organisations to boycott a bank.

The Eco Society at the University of Portsmouth have been campaigning for the university and Portsmouth City Council to stop using Barclays bank over the company’s investments in fossil fuels.

Member Victoria Yates, 19, said: ‘We want both of them to boycott Barclays because they invest in fossil fuels. People think what I can do in Portsmouth to affect climate change but everyone can make a difference.

‘We want to show that students can make a difference. It isn’t just not having a bank account but cutting any ties in terms of workshops and pledging not to work with them in future.’

The ‘die in’ protest, where participants pretend to be dead by lying on the ground, is scheduled for November 19 outside of Barclays on Commercial Road.

The University of Portsmouth told The News that its main bank account had been swapped from Barclays to Lloyds about 18 months ago but that is has a deposit account with Barclays as well as all high street banks.