The University of Glasgow has £6.8 million in shares in arms companies such as BAE systems and QinetiQ.
Two activists from Youth Demand, the student branch of Just Stop Oil, spray painted a University of Glasgow building yesterday over the institution’s refusal to divest from Israeli arms firms.
In November last year, the University of Glasgow voted to continue allowing endowment fund managers to invest in companies that earn more than 10% of their income from arms manufacturing.
The University of Glasgow has £6.8 million worth of shares in arms companies such as BAE systems and QinetiQ.
They have also received around £600,000 in research funding from BAE systems and Rolls Royce since 2017.
QinetiQ, a supplier of military robotics, has been criticised for exporting arms to Israel and their involvement in the British Army Watchkeeper Programme which allegedly tested the drones on Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
More broadly, the Youth Demand protest demanded that the UK government impose a trade embargo on Israel, including on arms sales.
Youth Demand, which was formed in April 2024, is calling for an end to all new licences and consents for exploration of fossil fuels in the North Sea and a two-way arms embargo on Israel.
Catriona Roberts, one of the students who took part in the direct action, said: “The Palestinian people are still under siege. No ceasefire will wash away the blame from our genocidal government.
“We demand our government stops arming the Israeli state and imposes a full trade embargo. Our institutions follow the lead of our government, who continue to trade and send arms to Israel, a state guilty of genocide. We refuse to be made complicit in the mutilation of children.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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