PALESTINE campaigners in Manchester are claiming victory after the city’s Metropolitan University decided to close its multimillion-pound accounts with Barclays Bank.

Student groups at the university have spearheaded a campaign to persuade its senior management to divest from Barclays because of the bank’s involvement with companies supplying arms to Israel.

Barclays is understood to handle the university’s £7.8 million payroll for staff.

One of the student campaigners, named only as Sue, said a meeting had been held with the university’s “senior leadership.”

She said: “There had been rumours about them switching banks but this was the first opportunity we had to sit down and present our case to key decision makers at the university.

“They confirmed the changeover from Barclays, which they said was for various ethical concerns, and we are all pleased with this outcome.

“It is the first major tie to be cut from our university to the zionist terror state of Israel — and the university knows this is just the beginning and we won’t back down until our institution has no connections to genocide-profiteering companies and until Palestine is free.”

The university was invited to comment.

A spokesman from Barclays said previously that while the bank did not invest directly in arms manufacturers, it “provides vital financial services to US, UK and European public companies that supply defence products to Nato and its allies.”

The spokesman said: “Decisions on the implementation of arms embargos to other nations are the job of respective elected governments.”