WHEN anti-war and solidarity activists blockade Barclays Bank they touch a deep-seated sense that this bank, and banks in general, are a malign force in the nation’s life.

Barclays, of course, has form as a prop to the South African apartheid regime so beloved of our ruling class and its political representative in the Tory government headed by Margaret Thatcher.

British banks, Barclays the first among this disreputable lot, are deeply involved in financing the illegal Israeli settlements that occupy Palestinian land and terrorise the Palestinians whose families have worked this land since time immemorial.