Green week students meet their Darling

STUDENTS collecting signatures to hand into Alistair Darling's office as part of their "green week" campaign got more than they bargained for when they bumped into the Chancellor on campus – and got to hand the signatures directly to him.

Student members of the People and Planet society at Edinburgh University spent two hours on Friday outside the university library collecting signatures for action cards addressed to Mr Darling.

The cards called on him to use his position to ensure the Royal Bank of Scotland does not invest public money in companies and projects which are driving climate change and linked to human rights abuses.

The students were surprised to learn Mr Darling was on an official visit to the New Informatics Forum and decided to meet him on his way out.

Mr Darling spoke to the students and they presented him with the freshly collected batch of 150 signed action cards.