By Conrad Landin
Barclays reached out to First Minister John Swinney (Image: PA)
BARCLAYS pressed the Home Office and the Scottish Government to crack down on Palestine Action before the group was proscribed, documents obtained by The National reveal.
A bombshell letter from the bank’s chairman Nigel Higgins has prompted fresh scrutiny of the controversial decision to rename Scotland’s national football ground as Barclays Hampden.
In a letter addressed to First Minister John Swinney, Higgins said he had “asked for the assistance of the Home Office” to “take action against those who are driving and organising a systematic national campaign of violence and intimidation”.
He said to Swinney: “It would be helpful to have your support for that endeavour.”
Greens MSP Maggie Chapman said: “It’s entirely inappropriate for a private corporation to be lobbying the First Minister and Home Office to crack down on peaceful protesters.
“Barclays could end the protests outside their locations tomorrow by ending their complicity in Israel's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”
Higgins pleaded for government action after pro-Palestinian activists staged demonstrations at Barclays branches across the UK. He said incidents between October 2023 and June 2024 included “smashed windows, graffiti or paint sprayed on branches, staff targeted in an intimidating manner and occasionally being shown highly distressing images of the Gaza conflict”.
Barclays is a prime target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement because of its financial ties to weapons companies. The bank also acts as “primary dealer” for Israeli government bonds.
In the letter, sent in September 2024, Higgins singled out a series of direct action events at Barclays outlets that month, including at Edinburgh’s flagship Princes Street branch. Premises “were severely vandalised meaning the majority had to close until sufficient repairs can be made”, he said, saying these demonstrations were “clearly orchestrated and executed professionally by Palestine Action”.
Ten months later, the Home Office banned Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. Activists are currently awaiting the outcome of a judicial review, which they hope will overturn the ban.
The Hampden Park sponsorship deal has sparked match-day protests from football fans and pro-Palestine campaigners.
Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba (below) said: “The National’s findings reveal that Barclays lobbied for a crackdown on the right to peaceful protest in Britain. Such an intention to curtail the public’s civil liberties underscores why the bank’s sponsorship of Scotland’s national stadium is so inappropriate.
null (Image: Archive)“Hampden is for us, the people of Scotland – not the banks who profit from our misery, prey on our vulnerable and, as we know now, campaign for the repression of our hard-won freedoms.”
Barclays has said it is “committed to being transparent about our role as a bank and always willing to talk about the work we do and why we do it”. But while it has publicly hit out at the “anti-defence movement” for protesting at its branches, it has never disclosed its lobbying efforts to get ministers to crack down on protesters.
Scottish Government briefings released to The National under Freedom of Information laws show that the First Minister was advised to decline a proposed meeting with Higgins.
Officials said the issues raised in the letter related to an “extremely sensitive situation”. They briefed Swinney: “Any actions or comments by Scottish ministers or the [Scottish Government] at this time which can be construed as supporting Barclays (and by default the sale of arms to Israel) are likely to intensify the criticism and be seen as evidence of the Scottish Government’s complicity in supplying arms to Israel.”
The briefing went on to say that it would be “entirely inappropriate” for the Scottish Government to weigh in to support Barclays’ claims that its connections to the defence sector and Israel had been misrepresented.
Swinney was advised to tell Higgins he was “saddened to hear of the issues Barclays is experiencing” and that he was “clear that protest activity should never be used to justify any form of hateful, violent, threatening, intimidating or otherwise criminal behaviour”. But he was told to say the policing of demonstrations was a matter for Police Scotland.
Villalba added: “That the Scottish Government did not object to Barclays lobbying efforts outright is not simply disappointing but indicative of their soft-touch approach to corporate overreach across Scotland.”
A Palestine Solidarity Campaign spokesman said: "It is shameful for Scotland’s national football ground to be sullied by association with Barclays Bank. Barclays has played an appalling role in Israel’s crimes, including the genocide in Gaza, by financing arms companies that supply weapons, components and military technology used to attack Palestinians.
"In addition, Barclays acts as a 'primary dealer' for Israeli government bonds, helping directly to raise money to fund the genocide and apartheid against Palestinians. This is why Barclays is rightly reviled, with thousands of people closing their accounts and Barclays being rejected as a music festival sponsor by hundreds of bands.
"These sponsorships and Barclays’s underhand lobbying both serve the same purpose – to whitewash its reputation and try to cover up its complicity. It won’t work. What is required is an end to its complicity."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The right to peaceful public assembly and freedom of expression are important human rights at the heart of all healthy democracies and the Scottish Government is committed to upholding them.
“It is not appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on, or seek to intervene in matters of operational policing.”
The Home Office insisted Barclays’s intervention had no involvement with the decision to proscribe Palestine Action, and declined to comment further.
Barclays and the Scottish FA declined to comment.