This piece of news (on most outlets) is perhaps the latest in the tactics of 'totalitarianism by stealth' much loved by our Labour regime. At the present time it is not clear whether this move will be merely for 2002, or to come into force next year, and indeed if it will be a permanent switch. Most likely scenario ? Pass it off as temporary, then bring it in.
The current Mayday holiday was a half hearted measure introduced by Michael Foot. Designed in such a way that it would rarely fall on May 1st, it looks set to be the latest symbolic defeat of the left at the hands of Labour, going the same way as Militant and Clause IV.
We may ask: if it was absolutely necessary to bring in another pro- establishment holiday, why bother to scrap this one ? Answer : to make the point- the monarchy takes precedence over workers' considerations. Time to remind them who's who, dammit.
There is no doubt that this years Mayday action left No 10 in dismay. Having decided that ideology itself was dead, it was acutely disconcerting to see it alive and scribbling on their own doorstep, so this will be the legerdemain employed to scrap it.