Last Thursday – Friday Nigel was in court. He and colleagues Sue and Phil had super-glued themselves to Barclays’ window to protest against the fact that Barclays is Europe’s largest funder of new fossil fuel extraction, a massive driver of the global rise in temperatures and sea levels.
These court cases are quite frustrating – the audio-visual
equipment for viewing evidence usually doesn’t work and a lawyer has to show
everybody on their little laptop. On
this occasion the judge’s microphone also didn’t work and the defendants hadn’t
been sent all the necessary paperwork, again, quite usual.
To stave off the boredom, I took some embroidery. Supporters of climate protesters get an extra
thorough search on the way in, so I’d already had my embroidery scissors
confiscated, but was still stitching away at the back when, during a lull, I
caught the judge’s eye.
‘Somebody has brought a dangerous implement into the court!’ she announced. I looked around me in surprise before
realising she was referring to my embroidery needle. As the court usher marched towards me, I
zipped it into my bag and tried to look innocent. He let me keep it.
Nigel, Sue and Phil, however, were not so lucky - they were found guilty of criminal
damage because the police’s de-bonding agent temporarily left some smeary marks
on the glass when mixed with the super glue (now all nicely cleaned up).
The whole experience leads me to the question, who is more
dangerous – a woman embroidering, three non-violent protesters glued to a
window, or a vast multinational bent on profiteering from causing irreparable
damage to the planet?
For much greener banks, try Nationwide or Triodos.
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