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Tories to cut may day

Churchill | 04.03.2011 08:26 | Mayday 2010 | Anti-militarism | Public sector cuts | Workers' Movements

Please note: whether or not you agree with my particular take on this matter, the simple fact of this article is that the coalition is attempting to scrap a historic day of working class pride and replace it with empire pride. I hope this is something that many people take as seriously as I do. We must fight for our day before it is gone forever.

As the coalition settles happily into class war and ordinary people all over the country face job losses and service cuts, the tories have outlined plans to rub salt in the wound by abolishing May Day, traditionally a day to honour workers' struggles and remember the haymarket affair. It will be replaced with either a day of nationalist pride billed as "UK Day" or a day to celebrate military victories such as the Battle of Trafalgar.

The national misery caused by cuts, redundancies and privatisation is taking root, and the latest by-election shows the coalition is haemorrhaging support by the day. Cameron's latest ploy is straight out of Maggie's How To Stagnate Dissent 101. Catch-all tactic to deploy in desperate times - pick somewhere far away, let's say the Falklands, and starting a pointless war to stir up nationalist sentiment. Only problem is, Dave doesn't have an army to send anywhere, as we found out earlier this week when he became an international laughing stock for suggesting UK could invade Libya on a cut army.

So what to do? Without an army but desperate for war ... instead create a national day to simulate the 'home front' of war - huge public glorification of slaughter and semi-racist nationalist sentiment. Call it a pseudo-war. It's the same war the Daily Mail is fighting every day. And the cracking bit is, under the guise of extending the tourist season, you get to abolish a day that has inspired huge dissent for such a long time in British history.

I cannot see this as a coincidence. In November and December we saw huge student riots as the tuition fee hike hit home. As 2011 progresses and the cuts bite harder and harder on working class people, dissent will spiral out of all control. This coalition has marched into the lion's den with its eyes closed and is only now just beginning to realise the scale of what they have embarked upon, the outrage and betrayal most people feel, and the shifting scales of global order as the Tunisian Revolution dominoes across Africa and Asia and shows no sign of slowing. The riots of May Day 2000 will be repeated with extra, and Dave and Nick know this. This is just one move in a giant chess game the government is playing with our lives.

Whether or not you agree with my particular take on this matter, the simple fact of this article is that the coalition is attempting to scrap a historic day of working class pride and replace it with empire pride. I hope this is something that many people take as seriously as I do. We must fight for our day before it is gone forever.

Churchill

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