About a year ago, Nottingham's May Day events became the source of much controversy after Notts Trades Council decided to invite New Labour MP, Alan Meale. The decision to invite Meale, an MP whose role in Parliament seemed to have been to facilitate the war-mongering, authoritarian and anti-migrant policies of the Blair government, was strongly opposed before and during the event.

In the aftermath, Notts Trades Council allies, such as Pete Radcliffe of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty, publicly sought to distance themselves from the Labour party. However, the Notts Trades Council were privately toadying up to Meale and the Labour party whilst slandering those who protested as anti-trade union.

In the run up to this year's May Day, it seems appropriate to make public the Trades Council's private statement to Meale, so that trade unionists and activists in Nottingham have an understanding of what kind of people and politics are running the show:

Statement from the Nottinghamshire, Mansfield & Nottingham Trades Union Council, regarding May Day 2012 to Mansfield CLP.

On behalf of the Nottinghamshire, Mansfield & Nottingham Trades Union Council, I wish to offer our apologies to Alan Meale, Diana Meale, and colleagues from Mansfield Labour Party, for the shameful conduct of a handful of individuals which attended this year’s May Day march and rally in Nottingham on the 5th of May.

This year saw the Trades Council take on the full responsibility for the arranging of May Day, and as such the Trades Council set out with the clear aim of seeking to broaden the event across the labour and trade union movement, in addition to also seeking to start to develop the event as a Nottinghamshire wide event as opposed to a Nottingham city event. In line with this approach the trades council agreed to therefore invited Alan Meale to speak, for which the trades council has no regrets.

For reasons which are only applicable to themselves, and to which we should give on relevance too, a small number of self-appointed individuals from a group called Nottingham Autonomous, who I would add have no formal or informal involvement with the trades council or the wider trade unions movement, decided to mar our day with actions that was indefensible, and which has quit rightly been condemned by all who witness it.

Sadly, this is not the first time that events arranged by the trades council which have also involved Labour MPs have been subjected to such acts, and it is clear that the trades council will now need to take stock of this and reflect on its stewarding arrangements for such events going forward.

The trades council, which is made up of trade unions which are both affiliated and not affiliated to the Labour Party have for some time now been considering how to establish closer links with the Labour Party at local level. Whilst the trades council is not an affiliate of the Party, nor does it support the position of the Labour Party on all issues, it nevertheless recognises our shared common history and values.

It is clear that a small group of unaccountable and unrepresentative individuals, who play absolutely no active role within the wider trade union or labour movement in Nottingham, and who are just as vile about trade unions as they are towards the Labour Party, but who nevertheless feel able to letch off the back of events arranged by organised labour are seeking to undermine these attempts between the local trades council and Labour Party to work together and build for the future on issues of common agreement. It is clearly hoped therefore that both our organisations recognised this for what it is, and are not deterred by such actions.