Dr. Sarah Benn invites #Barclays to #RepairHarm by canceling debt
10th March 2021
Ref: Barclaycard Account №XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Dear Barclaycard,
I am writing to let you know that I will not be making any payment towards the outstanding balance of £3636.68 on the above account.
As per the open letter previously sent by myself and other Extinction Rebellion and Animal Rebellion rebels in January (copy enclosed for reference), and as you already know, on 30th January 2021 I made a donation of £3500 on your behalf to Survival International. This charity works to repair damage to indigenous communities whose lives are being destroyed by projects involving deforestation and irreversible ecological devastation. I used my Barclaycard to make this donation on your behalf, as reparation for Barclays’ long-standing and repeated financing of such damaging activities, and ask again that you take this opportunity to do the right thing and cancel this debt, whereupon I will donate an identical amount directly from my own bank account to Survival.
I am confident that at some point you will start to take notice of the widespread concerns shared by myself and many others about the behaviour of financial institutions such as yours which is driving the destruction of climate and ecological balance upon which all our lives depend, and which widens inequalities and propagates injustices which disproportionately impact on the most vulnerable and least privileged in our world. Greenwashing and box-ticking exercises do not offset, or even disguise the damage that Barclays do by continued enabling (through finance) of fossil fuel extraction and industrial animal agriculture. Please just stop. Meantime, I am keen to show good faith in your intentions, and have donated the extra charges of £136.68 so far applied to my Barclaycard account directly to Survival International.
I am very keen to pay the remaining £3500 to Survival as soon as possible, and this sum is sitting in my bank account ready to go as soon as you confirm you are willing to cancel my Barclaycard debt. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Sarah Benn MBChB MRCGP
