Student activists glued Cambridge’s Barclays branch shut on Wednesday (07/05), protesting the bank’s ties to fossil fuels and the decision to ban trans women from its female toilets.

Protesters attached glue to the locks of the building’s doors in the early hours of the morning, forcing staff to wait outside until the doors were unsealed at 1pm.

A sign announcing the bank’s closure was also glued to the door, with an attached message taking aim at the bank’s continuing investments in “fossil fuels, the genocide of Palestinians, and most recently banning trans women from using their toilets”.

Barclays announced the decision to ban trans women from female toilets last week, in the wake of the supreme court’s decision that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act referred only to a biological woman and to biological sex.

The bank’s chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan said this decision was taken to ensure that it complies with the law.

The group responsible, This Is Not a Drill, made a statement directed at those who could not access the bank: “Apologies to any customer who we may have inconvenienced. Maybe in the future you shouldn’t bank with Zionist, racist transphobes who destroy the planet.”

They also condemned the bank’s investments, claiming that “Barclays directly funds weapon production, helping murder people in Gaza, and has an agreement with Israel to act as a ‘primary dealer’ for its government bonds,” adding: “It helps Israel to raise money to fund its genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.”

Barclays has long been the target of Cambridge student activism, with students staging a sit-in protest at the branch in March. Some students have also launched a “career boycott” against the bank, refusing to take part in any of its graduate employment schemes over environmental concerns.

The University of Cambridge is also reportedly considering cutting ties with Barclays amid concerns over the banks’ investments in fossil fuels, with internal documents stating that the University was looking into alternative banks “that do not contribute to the expansion of fossil fuels”.

This was followed by the University launching a cross-college eco-banking drive, with 27 of the University’s colleges joining an initiative to create a market for cash products which do not contribute to the financing of fossil fuel expansion.

Some College JCRs have also chosen to move away from the bank, with Trinity Hall JCR cutting ties with the bank last year over “ethical concerns”, in a move supported by the College’s Junior Bursar.

The action was part of a wider national protest titled “stop the system day”, with multiple Barclays sites being hit by activists in an attempt to derail the bank’s AGM.

This Is Not A Drill have also previously targeted Cambridge University sites. The group sprayed Trinity College Chapel with red pain in Michaelmas last year, condemning the College’s decision to backtrack on a commitment to divest from arms companies. They have also hit multiple other University buildings, including the Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows — formally known as the BP institute after the British energy company.

Barclays has been contacted for comment.