Warwick students protest against NatWest bonuses

Warwick University students have been protesting at a Coventry branch of NatWest on Saturday 26 February.

The 15 students are members of an umbrella group called Warwick Against the Cuts (WATC) and were protesting against the bonuses received by the bosses of NatWest’s parent-group Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Campaigners entered the Coventry branch at 11 o’clock, whilst another group from WATC dressed as bankers and held a counter demonstration called ‘Bankers for Justice’.

The groups staged mock fights with each other as well as holding banners and giving out leaflets to explain to the public why they were protesting.

“There were about 15 people to start off with but others joined in and even some members of the public,” said Megan Fortune, member of Warwick Against the Cuts and Warwick Students’ Union’s Campaigns Forum Coordinator. “We had a great response with many random people taking photos and really getting in the mood of this performance protest.”

The police were called to the scene but no action was taken: “At first there were a couple of vans but towards the end when they realised we were nice people it was just a couple of cars,” said Megan Fortune.

The protest was part of a national anti-cuts day-of-action against RBS which has been 84 percent state-owned since it was nationalised in 2008.

However, first-year Classics student Kathryn McPherson believes these protests will not make a difference: “Protests like these only hinder the customers and the counter staff, not the big bankers in London who are getting all these bonuses.

“We need to make sure the politicians and glorified money launderers are hit by protests so that they listen”, she added.

On 9 February, On RBS reported losses of £1.13 billion but chief executive Stephen Hester will still receive a £1.2m salary and bankers’ bonuses of £950m will be paid. However, only up to £2,000 of any bonus will be cash – with the rest in shares.

These bonuses come as the coalition plans to cut large amounts of funding in public services and as student fees increase up to £9,000.