May day alert

London braces itself for the attentions of an unprecedented coalition of revolt

By Steve Boggan
02 April 2002

 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=280780

"Police and anti-capitalist campaigners are preparing for the biggest and potentially most violent May Day demonstrations in a decade on the back of a groundswell of public anger over privatisation, mass redundancies and the war on terrorism."

*1) What? The article below does not support this statement at all. What is the basis of it given that the article says organisers want a peaceful event and the police have refused to comment? It's just more of the same old Mayday Media Hype!


"For the first time, Globalise Resistance, a socialist umbrella group opposing capitalism, will march side by side with official trade unionists, while groups of anarchists converge on Mayfair, the London home of many wealthy people."

*2) Apart from sounding really stupid ("Mayfair, the London home of many wealthy people"), Globalise Resistance (GR) normally march with trade unionists, what they mean is it's the first time GR are marching with the trade union march on Mayday, which happens to be GR's second Mayday. And as for the protest where wealthy people live it won't be just anarchists, and there'll be lots more events including critical mass bicycle protests in north and south London, a protest outside the US embassy, and a soho carnival.


"Organisers are determined the protests should be peaceful – and not provide a repeat of May Day two years ago, when a statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was given a turf mohican."

*3) !?! Comedy value surely? Not even going to go into this one.


"But a mix of factors may result in good intentions turning sour. Thousands of supporters of the Stop the War Coalition, which attracted a crowd of up to 100,000 for recent rallies against war in Afghanistan and Iraq, plan to join this year's celebrations, swelling last year's crowd – between 4,000 and 8,000 – to one many times larger."

*4) Oh so the attendance of anti-war peace campaigners could turn things sour?!?! Who is writing this copy?


"In the midst of two main bodies of peaceful activity will be hundreds of people who were among 2,000 protesters corralled by police last year at Oxford Circus for up to eight hours with no food, water or toilet facilities in a crowd control tactic that many believe was unlawful imprisonment.

One organiser of the event said: "They [those hemmed in last year] are only a few of the thousands we hope will turn up, but if they are bent on revenge against the police, they could cause havoc. Our real fear is that they will give the police an excuse to react. In recent years, riot police have been more than happy to swing their batons but we get the blame for the trouble when people start stampeding out of their way.""

*5) Ah, ok, so the threat of violence is supposed to come from the people participating in the (non trade union) mayday protests last year, if they're "bent on revenge", or so fears one union event 'organiser'.


"The London Mayday Organising Committee, mainly made up of trade unions, has embraced Globalise Resistance this year, the body around which most problems have circled in the past."

*6) Which is quite an amusing mis-truth, especially as it was the Globalise Resistance contingent that led people into Oxford Circus hours before the planned convergence time last Mayday, and then stood around as the police encircled people and sealed everything off for seven hours. Although to be fair there was quite a media fuss about the GR train ("anarchist express" as many papers would have it) to Genoa last summer that was temporarily stopped by authorities while en route.


"Usually, an annual trade unions parade attracts few marchers and is largely ignored by the media, which concentrates on the activities organised by Globalise Resistance. This year, however, their efforts will be united in what they hope will be a mixture of peaceful celebration and pointed demonstration over globalisation, privatisation and war."

*7) It's simply not true that "usually" the media concentrates on the activities of Globalise Resistance. One wonders if Steve Boggan the author of this piece was even in the country during the last two Maydays. In 2000 Globalise Resistance did not exist, and in 2001 the media concentrated on alarmist lies about 'anarchists', wombles and the Sale of the Century Oxford St protest - a quick look at the 60+ articles printed in the daily papers last year will show that. While it's true Globalise Resistance did try and speak to every journo possible last year, Steve Boggan makes it sound like GR were the whole of the mayday protests.

"Guy Taylor, a Globalise Resistance activist, said: "We are all very excited about marching with the trades unions.

"It makes sense really because we are both anti- capitalists and, together, we are a powerful force to be reckoned with. There is a lot of dissatisfaction among the public and workers at the moment over privatisation, terrible public services, thousands of redundancies and the prospect of a war with Iraq. We think this will bring people out to protest in record numbers."

If so, the protest would represent a new high water mark of a British tradition of direct action that, before it was appropriated by anarchists in the late 1990s, had seen off Margaret Thatcher's detested poll tax (through demonstrations in London) and ensured that no more Newbury bypasses or Manchester airport second runways would be introduced in a hurry (through famed eco-protesters such as Swampy and the labyrinthine caves they locked themselves in)."

*8) Good Grief! This is so far from the mark as to be laughable! Please Steve Boggan explain yourself. How exactly did anarchists "appropriate" direct action in the late 1990s? (and interesting use of the term 'appropriate' by the way :) The poll tax was beaten through a massive campaign on non-payment (ie direct action by individuals), though yes the final nail was the huge protest that turned into a huge riot, but it was not seen off by "demonstrations in London" (which were marches not direct action). The massive explosion of direct action in the 1990's was mostly driven by a fusion of DIY anarchist politics with ravers and a host of other groups targeted by the Criminal Justice Act 1994. To say anarchists were not using direct action at Twyford Down, the M11 or on the streets before the late 1990's is trying to re-write history. Plus more importantly just how would a "protest" with "record numbers" represent a "new high water mark of a British tradition of direct action"?


"May Day, the calendar's most permissive day and one festival the Christian Church and other authorities have never quite controlled, was always the focus of dissent: the execution of eight anarchist workers demanding an eight-hour working day resulted in it being declared International Workers Day in 1889.

But, at Trafalgar Square on 1 May 2000, hard-core anarchists – known as "spikies" rather than the pro- peaceful "fluffies" – confounded direct action's traditional intellectual rigour."

*9) Quite an obscure and misleading sentence. In Trafalgar Square on May 1st 2000 police first prevented the Trade Union march from entering, then later corralled and beat other mayday protestors after pushing them into the square, after the nearby MacDonald’s had been smashed (which one presumes is what Steve means). This was by no means the first time that such property damage had been seen on a protest. Steve also uses the black and white media definition of protestors, violent / peaceful, fluffy / spikie. For a start you don't need to be an anarchist to smash a MacDonald’s or to be a "spikie", and anarchists are just as likely to be "fluffy". To reduce the issue of property damage to throw away phrases is just classic laziness, lifestyle journalism at it's best, divisive good Vs bad simplification at its worst.


"Mass protests at Seattle and Washington had started alerting mass media to protests against organisations such as the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation – and the damaging effects of the rise in anarchists were revealed in the depleted numbers at Oxford Street last year. Amid plans for a series of actions billed widely as "May Day Monopoly" – autonomous DIY action against symbols of capitalism around London – many law-abiding protesters were deterred by fears of violence and the Scotland Yard's promise of zero tolerance."

*10) Does anyone think this article was written in a hurry or something? "the damaging effects of the rise in anarchists", this is written terribly!

a) Mass protests and autonomous direct action had been carried out for years against these institutions mostly in ‘non-western’ countries. In 1998 at the G8 meeting in Birmingham, Drop The Debt mobilised tens of thousands of people and Reclaim the Streets held a Global Street Party with direct action in over 25 cities across the world.

b) In September 1999 Seattle blew the lid off the whole movement with a stunning huge autonomous direct action blockade of the WTO summit which the unions joined, as the world watched the violent actions of the police who so brutally attacked people.

c) To compare attendance numbers for a Mayday protest in London with resistance against a fully fledged WTO ministerial Summit or IMF or G8 meeting makes no sense at all.

d) To then state that the "depleted numbers" at Oxford Street 2001 was proof of "the damaging effects of the rise in anarchists" is even more of a bizarre claim. Given the amount of police, government and media hysteria about violence the attendance was quite healthy! Even Mayor Ken Livingstone publicly asked 'peaceful protestors' to stay away from the protests.

e) Elsewhere in the world actions and protests far bigger than either seattle or Washington have continued, with only a slight dip after September 11th, and if anything are getting bigger, oh and all have featured anarchists and autonomous direct action.


"Bob Tennant, secretary of the Greater London Area Trades Union Committee, said anarchists had always seized upon the front provided by lawful protest but security at this year's march would be enhanced by liaison with police and a commitment by each group permitted on the march to steward itself."

*11) This accusation is normally reserved for the "quote: hard core of trouble makers", but here is used specifically against "anarchists", almost as if one was trying to make the word "anarchist" synonymous with 'violent trouble maker'. To be honest the "anarchists" usually organise their own protests as has been seen in previous mayday's, and put a high emphasis on personal accountability.


"The importance of the occasion would be enhanced by the fact that organisers had been given permission to march to Trafalgar Square and hold a rally there while Parliament was sitting, he added. Mr Tennant said: "That will be the first time this has been allowed in over 100 years. There is a sessional order dating back to 1829 that normally prevents marches and demonstrations within a mile of the Palace of Westminster when Parliament is sitting. We are very pleased about that. There will be a rally in Trafalgar Square and some colourful events organised by Globalise Resistance."

The organisers are hoping the official march and rally will be swelled by thousands of disaffected members of the National Union of Teachers, the RMT rail union and the Communication Workers Union, all of whom are involved in disputes over pay, redundancies and privatisation.

A spokesman for the CWU said: "We haven't decided yet what to do officially but, with 40,000 postal workers' jobs under threat, I think you could expect thousands of our members to make their own way there."

While police are dealing with those protests, further west, anarchist groups will be holding several "carnivalesque" events in Mayfair.

On their website – only periodically available, they claim, because of police action – they call on their supporters to protest peacefully while warning them to beware of the police tactics that stifled them last year. "If there is any trouble, it won't be started by us," said one yesterday."

*12) Would have been nice if you'd supplied the website address for people to look themselves. Oh and yes, the police have threatened four different website hosts with police raids and seizure of their servers if they host the mayday website in an outrageous attack on the freedom of expression.


""There has generally been a feeling that we should attempt to answer the question, 'What are you for, because we know what you are against?' So, if anything, what we do should be fun and peaceful. There is a lot of rage around at the moment with this Government and wealthy governments worldwide, but there is also a lot of common sense.

"We want our message to get across, rather than have the media concentrate on violent protest. What is interesting, though, is that they said the anti-capitalist movement had gone quiet after 11 September but half a million people turned up in Barcelona [for recent protests]. If anything, we're getting bigger and stronger."

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman declined to discuss police tactics for the event but said the officers were planning responses for every eventuality."

*13) End note: Interesting that the police have apparently declined to discuss mayday (Steve, you should ask them about the threats they have made to webhosts). By this time last year (the start of April) there had already been over 25 newspaper articles screaming about the most violent riot in years being planned all backed up with nice apocalyptic insider police source warnings. The hysteria grew to such a crescendo that it peaked early and some newspapers and Ch4 started to question the huge scale of the media propaganda which had been feeding the public with ludicrous stories saying things like protestors plan to travel around London via the ventilation shafts of the tube network and use women and young children as shields! One assumes the police and state have learned their lesson, and more cautious of a media backlash, will only now mount their campaign over the next few weeks - so expect more stories predicting violent doom - as indeed this article does in it's first sentence ("Police and anti-capitalist campaigners are preparing for the biggest and potentially most violent May Day demonstrations in a decade").

For a near full list of all pre-mayday media articles from 2001 see:
 http://uk.indymedia.org/index.php3?resist=mayday&stance=m1coverage

For some analysis check:
 http://uk.indymedia.org/index.php3?resist=mayday&stance=media2001