http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3564401.stm

Still, at least the SWP is going to 'save the day'!:

"Other protest groups are still intending to use 1 May to make themselves heard.

Guy Taylor, of Globalise Resistance, told BBC London: "We are living in a very volatile political situation at the moment and I think the issues of the day will be expressed on the streets on May Day." "

The annual TUC Mayday march is still on and so is the Dublin Mayday action. Tens of thousands of protesters from all over Europe and beyond will be converging on Dublin for three days of action against the EU summit starting on Mayday, while thousands of others will be marching through central London for the annual TUC Mayday march and rally. See:  http://wombles.org.uk/actions/mayday2004.php and  http://www.glatuc.org.uk/mayday.html

The mainstram are undoing somuch good wok we need a very visable campigne to show mayday is still on in london.

Funny isn't it. In the year since the war started we've seen hundreds of protests across Britain, at places as diverse as Central London, Menwith Hill, Manchester, and so on. There have been school walk-outs across Britain and protest rallies, meetings and the like everywhere.

And the May Day collective dare to talk about apathy?

The real problem is, that the much hyped anti-capitalist, alternative events organised by the May Day collective have been in decline ever since Guerilla gardeners hit the headlines a few years back.

This decline has been matched, with the growth of a diverse, united and mass movement in the form of the anti-war movement. Unfortunately too many of those who held bring the anti-capitalist mood to Britain via the RTS actions of 2000 onwards stood on the sidelines and complained, moaned or dissed the anti-war movement.

Here, we see the outcome of that strategy.

Lets hope the STWC, GLATUC can bring thousands on to the streets again on May Day, because it will be tragedy if, as international protests mark May Day, London, Blair's capital abstains from the event.

Its all very well applauding the TUC etc getting people onto the streets, but the events they organise turn people into nothing less than lemmings. Why waste your money marching from A - B in support of pro-capitalist organisations (SWP, GR, TUC, etc etc)? You may as well save your cash to go to Dublin, or pay for the printing of a leaflet to distribute in your local area.

The SWP and the rest of them are only waiting to get into power. Don't encourage them!

you numbskull... READING THE ARTICLE might be a good start, rather than re-mouthing some bbc editorial!

It makes very clear that the reflections are from "a couple of people involved in this year's collective rather than a statement issued by the group as a whole".

It seems to be an appeal for dialogue to open so that future Mayday events can be returned to the kind of fun events they used to be.

I for one won't be going on a tedious pro-capitalist march with various lefty whingers and assorted members of the Labour Party / GLA.

Well the collective did allow the BBC a chance to use the word apathy, since they put out a statement which said that May Day was cancelled due to poor attendance and lack of interest in the organising meetings.

Many people will take this as meaning that the collective thinks people are uninterested or apathetic.

Still, the collective has abdicated responsibility for May Day this year, no doubt to concentrate it's venom on other people's plans.

Has the Weekly Worker merged with the Daily Mail? An exciting new prospect! I can see the headlines now:

'Smash the State - Abolish the NHS'

'Immigrants are Pawns of Big Business - Kick Them Out Now'

'Unions are New Labour Sell-Outs - Ban All Strikes'

And then a 27-page expose of how George Galloway and Ken Livingstone are secretly conspiring with EU bureaucrats to force us all to wear Muslim headscarves!

Because there's a difference with being anti-capitalist ie. abolishing capitalism and replacing it with a classless society and being the left wing of capitalism ie. not abolishing capitalism, but instead making crap transitional demands that actually modernise its systems and ability to oppress us ever more obliquely.

Bloody lefty capitalist whingers!

none of this is facing the key issue, which is:

Why are so many people not interested in marching and protesting on MayDay ?

well lots of people will be in dublin, so they are interested, just that london takes a back seat.

as for london mayday it's become a bit of a script.

i don't think it's really no one is interested, more that people aren't interested in organising another re-run of last years mayday play, only to then be slagged of by tons of people across the country for doing a shite job of organising a protest for people to go to.

mayday in the past has taken so much energy from active people, and maybe that could be used better in other directions.

if you look at it in terms of shutting down parts of central london then it's been a success. but it hasn't exactly been empowering for a lot of people. and it hasn't really articulated much politics, though people have tried.

i do get really sick of people posting to indymedia slagging off other peoples efforts, or just saying we should riot, or we should blah blah blah

so i think this is a positive step.

re the BBC, well of course they will say wot they said!

i doubt they'd come up with headlines like "anarchists pause to consider tactics"
or "anti-capilatists call for more politics" ot wotever

re: (excerpt from bbc article): Mick Connelly, London's TUC regional secretary, told BBC London he hoped the cancellation of some of the anti-capitalist protests would mean less bad publicity for what is a day of celebration for trades unions. "Over the last few years, a number of different organisations have decided to try and hijack May 1, which has traditionally been the International Workers' Day," he said.

WHAT FUCKING PLANET IS THIS GUY ON?!?!?!

HAS HE READ ANY MAYDAY HISTORY?

MAYDAY HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREEN
- because it is the arrival of spring, encompassing ancient festivals of renewal, hope and transformation, celebrated for thousands of years.

THEN IT BECAME BLACK TOO
- because the struggle for the 8 hour day came to a head with an enormous strike across the US on May 1st 1886, after which several of the anarchist organisers were executed representing a turning point in late 19th century radical politics.

AND FOLLOWING THIS AND MORE LABOUR STUGGLE IT BECAME RED AS WELL
- because soon after 1886 MayDay was adopted as Workers’ Day by the International Labour Congress and has been celebrated across the world ever since.

May Day has always been the people's day, whether it be green, black or red. Throughout history religions and governments have repeatedly sought to subvert and usurp the meaning of Mayday.

Now we can do without people like Mick Connelly claiming Mayday is only about trade unions!!

Our diversity divides but could be our strength!

Long Live Mayday!

4 posts on the IMCUK outreach list in the last 4 months. and you wonder why no one's turning up.