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HLS Financial Demos in London

SHAC London | 14.09.2008 13:13 | SHAC | Animal Liberation | London

It had been a while since we had paid NYSE Euronext a visit in London, partly because of the awful place that it is to demonstrate and the restrictions of the injunction they have taken out against us, but we were here again today outside the normal terms of the injunction to perform a very loud and committed demonstration.





We started at about 12:30 and used megaphones throughout with chants such as "NYSE. Trading shares in blood money!" and "Blood, blood, blood on your hands" to NYSE and all others around just what a disgusting decision it had been to list HLS (LSR) on their exchange. We started the demonstration in two groups, one on Cousin Lane and the other on Dowgate Hill, but then everyone got together at Dowgate Hill because it is far more visible. At Cousin Lane they always put the shutters down to make our demonstration difficult. At the end, however, for a bit of fun we caught NYSE out and ran down to Cousin Lane again to find their shutters up and used the several minutes we had there to good effect. We stayed for nearly two hours in total and it was a very worthwhile demonstration, handing out very many leaflets. NYSE, we're not only going to be demonstrating against you, but your leading shareholders as well until you ditch HLS.

Barclays Bank was next on the list. They not only are HLS's biggest shareholder, but they are the 3rd biggest shareholder in the NYSE Euronext. We went to their branch on King Street and, again, made plenty of noise and let the whole surrounding area know about the merky business Barclays are involved in: torturing innocent defenseless animals. We were calling upon Barclays to sell their shares in HLS and to put pressure on the NYSE to de-list them. The Barclays management looked visibly irritated by our presence, but strangely one of their staff actually cheered us on. Not sure Barclays is the right job for that particular worker!! We stayed here nearly an hour, and then moved on to another Barclays on Fenchurch Street. By this time our numbers were smaller than the start of the day, but we still did a very worthwhile demonstration in a very busy and visible spot. The staff of Barclays seem to have trouble handling the truth, especially the member of staff who grabbed at the megaphone that one of the protesters was holding. If you don't want demonstrations then you shouldn't work for the world's most unethical bank!

Another very good day of demos and especially Barclays can expect many more very shortly.

SHAC London
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Comments

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well done the supportive worker

14.09.2008 21:53

"but strangely one of their staff actually cheered us on. "

It's not strange at all. The majority of people are opposed to tests of household products on animals and these workers in Barclays never thought they'd be working for a suppoter of these cruel acts. I think you'll find many of employees of these types of companies will actually support you but are too afraid of losing their jobs to speak out. Remember after a demo you go home, they have to still work there.

So instead of saying strangely we should be saying well done to this worker for having the courage to say what many of the other workers were thinking but too scared of their bosses to say. Well done that staff member for cheering us on!!

Not Strange