Activists disrupt Lloyds Bank shareholder meeting

LONDON (Reuters) -Activists disrupted Lloyds Banking Group's annual shareholder meeting in Glasgow on Thursday, protesting against the bank's alleged provision of financial services to defence firms linked to violence in the Middle East.

Lloyds Chairman Robin Budenberg requested the removal of at least two activists at the outset of the meeting, pleading with the protesters to reserve their questions until later in the proceedings.

"You are profiting from companies who cause harm," one protester shouted. "Focus on humanity, put the human, put the planet before profit," they said, as they were escorted from the room.

A spokesperson for the bank said it did not provide financial services directly to companies in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Activists have targeted British banks including Barclays' annual shareholder meeting, to protest the lenders' alleged indirect involvement in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and neighbouring territories.

Barclays said it did not invest its own money in companies that supply weapons used by Israel in Gaza, and it only trades shares in such companies on behalf of clients.

(Reporting By Sinead Cruise; Editing by Amanda Cooper, Karin Strohecker and Jane Merriman)