> Mayday has always had as special importance for those on the mainstream left as well as those of a more
> radical persuasion. Traditionally a day of feasting and merriment
A reference to Beltane and the widespread varied pre-Christian traditions that you could say the labour movement then co-opted themselves....?!

I think you are more confused than the average old lady!!

Some people have moved on from times where people thought the earth was the centre of the universe and flat. Christianity is outdated as are all religions. We gotta start looking at people as people. You can have your feast at mayday and remember christ or whatever u wanna do while we [ay tribute to the real heroes of society who fought and died for the basic rights we enjoy now as workers which are been taken away from us.

You have overlooked a very important fact here - Gordon Brown is very much on the left side of the spectrum and was, in his younger days, considered a radical himself. He knows full well that mayday is a day of socialist celebration - just as it is in France, and he is not trying to squash that. Moreover, I believe may even be trying to suggest that under 'new' labour we have a real socialist country once again. I'm not sure when he last opened his eyes.

Mayday is an international wokers day. If brown is really trying to do this he is re writing history, dividing people into nationalities rather than class and allowing people to forget what really happened on the first of May

"Gordon Brown is very much on the left side of the spectrum"

Ha ha ha haargh! That's a good one! I'm sure the CBI agree!

[wipes tears of laughter from eyes]

Sorry mr Irony, but mr Brown was a radical in his younger days, and what I meant was that publicly he is very much on the left side of the spectrum, and especially in his past. The fact that he engages in right-wing politics does not alter that after the fact. Why do you think mayday is labour's day of choice? They still maintain at least an illusion of socialist principle.

And if you're thinking that I am some sort of Gordon Brown fan who feels he must save his hero from all this bashing then you're wrong. If you are going to get upset about something, make it something that actually matters.

And for %#£$ sake get some background knowledge first...

I thought aligning yourself with the uSA no matter what, making statements about how were all thatcherites, privitising everything the public sector had left, cutting taxes for the rich, increasing pension age etc are all signs of a govt showing its true nature and not trying to hide it.
Labour doesnt need to pretend its socialist anymore because politicians have succeeded in blacklisting the word Socialism and any left or far left ideology amongst people. To say you are socialist is now regarded as a bad thing by most people nowadays

You say: "mr Brown was a radical in his younger days, and what I meant was that publicly he is very much on the left side of the spectrum, and especially in his past."

Oh for Christ's sake, "publicly" means absolutely nothing in this age of PR and official bullshit and being a radical in your "younger days" means even less - you may have noticed that we live in the present.

Half of the world's most reactionary figures, including some of George Bush's government, used to be on the left - it is what people believe now that matters, surely? Mussolini used to be a Socialist Party activist - was he therefore still a lefty when he became Fascist dictator of Italy?

But I don't even think the evidence bears out your strange claim that he is "publicly" on the left - unless you think wrapping yourself in the Union Flag, having a hard-on for the US, backing imperialist wars, axing 100,000 public sector jobs to save having to tax the rich and promising Big Biz a "light touch" safety regime is somehow "very much on the left".

You say: "The fact that he engages in right-wing politics does not alter that after the fact. Why do you think mayday is labour's day of choice? They still maintain at least an illusion of socialist principle."

The fact that he engages in right wing politics IS the fact, isn't it? Not some vaguely leftist waffle at union conferences (which I have had the 'pleasure' of witnessing several times) and "an illusion" of socialism.

Again - it is the politics you actually "engage in" that show what you are, not talk which is, as they say, cheap.

Cheer on "illusions" all you like - firm reality matters more to working people who bear the brunt of the Chancellor's "pro-business" policies.

You say: "And if you're thinking that I am some sort of Gordon Brown fan who feels he must save his hero from all this bashing then you're wrong. If you are going to get upset about something, make it something that actually matters."

Again, pure fantasy. I was amused at your cart-before-horse worldview, not "upset". Although wilful ignorance *is* quite upsetting. If you're not a Brownite groupie then I find your defence of the CBI's best friend and your weird analysis of his none-too-impressive political past quite bizarre.

You say: "And for %#£$ sake get some background knowledge first" - WTF? You assume far too much, jtw.

I didn't bother writing a biography of Gordon Brown on because this isn't the place for it. Why do you assume I don't know about his past? As a matter of fact I do, and by the look of it know a damn sight more than you - for instance, did you know that he and Blair "invented" New Labour together? Strange but true, and hardly evidence of a burning socialist flame.

"Left wing" my arse. I stand by my irony.