Scowl and Velocity drop out of Obtain Pageant over Barclays sponsorship

Scowl and Velocity have change into the newest bands to tug out of Obtain 2024 over its partnership with Barclays and the financial institution’s ties to Israel.

The information follows an identical transfer from Leeds hardcore band Pest Management who introduced they'd be pulling out earlier right this moment (June 10), saying that they'd not “participate in an occasion whose sponsor income from facilitating a genocide.”

In an announcement posted to their social media, Scowl wrote: “We is not going to be taking part in Obtain fest this 12 months on account of Barclays Financial institution sponsorship of the occasion and Barclays’ connection to Israel and the genocide Israel is committing in Palestine.

“Free Palestine!”

They directed followers to the Bands Boycott Barclays marketing campaign for extra data and thanked Pest Management “for bringing this to our consideration”.

In the meantime, Velocity wrote on their social media accounts: “SPEED will not be taking part in Obtain Pageant this Friday June 14 because of the current information of Barclays Banks sponsorship of the occasion and their involvement within the struggle in Gaza.”

SPEED will not be taking part in Obtain Pageant this Friday June 14 because of the current information of Barclays Banks sponsorship of the occasion and their involvement within the struggle in Gaza

— SPEED (@gangcalledspeed) June 10, 2024

Scowl beforehand dropped out of Welcome To Rockville and SXSW on account of each festivals’ ties to the US Military and weapons corporations amid the Israel-Gaza battle. These included Gruff Rhys, Kneecap, Sprints, Lambrini Women, Gel, Rachel Chinouriri, Cardinals and NewDad.

SXSW responded to the cancellations in an announcement: “We're an organisation that welcomes numerous viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has lengthy been our legacy. We absolutely respect the choice these artists made to train their proper to free speech.”

Explaining its sponsorship with the US Military, SXSW wrote: “The defence business has traditionally been a proving floor for lots of the techniques we depend on right this moment. These establishments are sometimes leaders in rising applied sciences, and we imagine it’s higher to know how their method will impression our lives.”

The information of Pest Management and Scowl pulling out of Obtain comes after many acts – together with CMAT, Pillow Queens, Mui Zyu and Georgia Ruth introduced that they'd be boycotting this 12 months’s version of Latitude over Barclays’ sponsorship.

The bulletins additionally come after the most important boycott of The Nice Escape in Brighton final month, additionally on account of its ties with Barclays. Over 100 acts dropped out of this 12 months’s Nice Escape Pageant in solidarity with Palestine – constituting roughly 1 / 4 of the complete programme.

A Barclays spokesperson shared an announcement that learn: “We offer very important monetary providers to US, UK and European public corporations that provide defence merchandise to NATO and its allies. Barclays doesn't instantly put money into these corporations.​ The defence sector is key to our nationwide safety and the UK authorities has been clear that supporting defence corporations is suitable with ESG concerns. Selections on the implementation of arms embargos to different nations are the job of respective elected governments.”

When beforehand approached about The Nice Escape, a Barclays spokesperson pointed to their on-line Q&A forward of their upcoming AGM and stated that they'd not be making additional remark.

“Barclays has been the topic of criticism in relation to Gaza based mostly on two arguments: that Barclays is an investor in these companies, and that we offer a spread of economic providers to purchasers which produce tools utilized by the Israeli Defence Power,” the Q&A learn.

“Now we have been requested why we put money into 9 defence corporations supplying Israel, however this errors what we do. We commerce in shares of listed corporations in response to shopper instruction or demand and which will lead to us holding shares. We do not make investments for Barclays and Barclays isn't a ‘shareholder’ or ‘investor’ in that sense in relation to those corporations.”

Barclays continued: “An related declare is that we put money into Elbit, an Israeli defence producer which additionally provides the UK armed forces with tools and coaching. For the explanations talked about, it's not true that we've got decided to put money into Elbit. We might maintain shares in relation to shopper pushed transactions, which is why we seem on the share register, however we aren't traders. We word additionally that Elbit is highlighted as a result of campaigners declare it makes cluster bombs. We'd stop any relationship with any enterprise the place we noticed proof that it manufactures cluster bombs or parts.

“As a financial institution, our job is to supply monetary providers to hundreds of enterprise purchasers and that features these within the defence sector. Shoppers on this sector embrace US, UK or European corporations which provide defence merchandise to NATO and different allies together with Ukraine.”

NME has reached out to Obtain for a remark.