Simple arithmetic

High street banks up and down Britain became classrooms yesterday as pupils went back to school to learn why Britain's public finances are in such a mess.

As the young UK UnCut activist above (spotted outside a branch of NatWest Bank in London's West End) shows, the arithmetic makes very clear how banks have devastated the economy. What is less clear to brighter pupils is why the UK's coalition government lacks the courage to block the extravagant bonuses bankers are paying themselves and tackle rampant tax avoidance by banks and hedge funds. Instead politicians have opted for severe cuts to much needed public services

Class swots took notes as teachers from the New Economics Foundation, Corporate Watch and Tax Justice Network explained how incompetence, greed and worse have wreaked social havoc. Less attentive pupils were disciplined for not paying attention, and Cable, V; Cameron, D.; Clegg, N.; and Osborne, G. were singled out for their poor homework and weak performance in the past school year.

More photos of yesterday's events here.