This is a chance to express your anger at the daylight robbery that has been carried out against the public by the fat cats! People will be gathering at 12 noon at the clock outside the Guildbourne Centre, South Street, Worthing BN11 1LZ. This is very handy for the Worthing branches of HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and NatWest/RBS.

The bankers are robbing us! We all know this is true after the enormous tax-payers’ bail-out of at least £1 trillion and the millions of pounds in bonuses paid out to the fat cat bosses since then. But the High Street banks are just the tip of the iceberg – there is a whole array of corporations, banks, hedge funds, and billionaires looting our world and living the high life at our expense.

The banking system is behind wars – “investing” in the arms trade and thus profiting directly from death. It is also the driving force behind all the damage being done to our global environment – oil extraction, mining, fracking and so on. This is what capitalism is all about – unrestrained selfish greed and callous contempt for any notions of right or wrong.

Under capitalism, the government will always put the profits of the rich before the welfare of the population, no matter which party happens to be in control. That’s why it could somehow afford to bail out the banks, but hasn’t got the money to properly fund hospitals, schools or day centres for vulnerable people.

Come along on Saturday to protest against the bankers and help spread the word about events coming up in June, when the leaders of the G8 countries will be meeting in the north of Ireland. They will be plotting how to carry on imposing capitalism on the world. Opponents of their system are coming together to voice their anger and a big day of protest is being organised in London on Tuesday June 11. Why not book the day off work now so you can make sure of being there?

NatWest

NatWest is part of the infamous RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) group, which cashed in on the taxpayers’ bailout of the banks in 2008 and is now 84% owned by the government. But this has not stopped it continuing to pay millions of pounds in bonuses to its fat cat boss Stephen Hester and his cronies - nothing short of robbery!

Lloyds TSB

Lloyds is another bank that was generously bailed out by the government on behalf of the public. It is now 41% owned by the taxpayer, but boss Antonio Horta-Osorio is still apparently in line for a £2.3 million payout. Lloyds TSB is also notorious for profiting from war - it is the only high street bank whose corporate “social responsibility” policy does not even mention the arms industry.

HSCB

Although HSBC turns in a whopping £16 billion a year profit, it is too greedy to pay a fair wage to staff in the UK. Instead, it is outsourcing work to India, China, Malaysia, Brazil, Sri Lanka and the Philippines – where workers have few rights and are forced by desperate poverty to work for peanuts. This is the capitalist ideal – slave labour makes for even bigger profit margins!

Barclays

Barclays Bank hit the headlines this week when it was reported that five of its top bosses will share a jackpot worth up to £17 million despite a string of scandals. These fat cats include Rich Ricci, the controversial investment bank boss. Once again, different laws apply to bankers. If we get greedy and break the rules we are hauled up before a judge and sent to jail. If they do so, they are rewarded with another few million quid. Why do we let them get away with this?

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 sussexstopg8@riseup.net