RBS do it again

Back in the Highlands, and a damp & peaceful run along the lochside.

The sense of peace was rudely interrupted by a shocking report about cluster bombs in today’s Independent. These appalling devices contain multiple smaller bombs (sub-munitions) which can lie unexploded for decades after being dropped. 30% of victims are children, 60% are civilians. 108 countries have agreed to ban them – though not the USA, China or Russia, who continue to manufacture them.

Although the UK has signed the ban treaty, a legal loophole has enabled several high street banks to continue to provide financial support to US manufacturers of these weapons, such as Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems. The worst offender in the UK is the largely state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland . Given that the UK government commissioned Lockheed Martin to help with the recent population census, this isn’t altogether surprising. No doubt Lockheed Martin will soon be invited to run our health service too.

Meanwhile, in the spirit of naming & shaming, other UK banks involved include HSBC, Barclays, & Lloyds TSB, as well as banks from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Only Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and New Zealand have had the moral courage to ban their banks from supporting these weapons.