by Jason Pierce
Cybercast NewsMarch 25, 2002
Anti-globalization protesters plan to gather in one of central London's most exclusive neighborhoods and picket the U.S. embassy on May 1, according to several underground websites.
However, activists are keeping quiet about their eventual central meeting point in the Mayfair area, hoping to dissuade the massive police presence that has characterized May Day in London in recent years. The gathering will happen on the same day as a more traditional trade union march.
May Day protests have been a magnet for trouble in the British capital in the past several years. Last May 1, a number of smaller, peaceful events culminated in a large demonstration near Oxford Circus, London's main shopping district. In a move criticized by protesters and some free-speech organizations but praised by London's left-wing mayor, police hemmed in the protesters for nearly eight hours. Clashes resulted in 92 arrests, 50 injuries and more than $30 million in lost business and property damage.
In 2000, protesters occupied Parliament Square, near the heart of the British government. Those demonstrations descended into riots, ending with more than 30 injuries and nearly 100 arrests. Two national monuments were vandalized in the fracas.
In June 1999, anti-capitalist protesters targeted London's financial district, where radical groups started riots that caused about $3 million in damage.
Mayfair action
An anonymous message recently posted on British activist website urban75.com and repeated on several other webpages said that London's Mayfair district was chosen for this year's protests because of the centuries-old spring festival that gave the area its name.
"Mayday in Mayfair will be a fluid, spontaneous and exciting return to the Mayfayre, happening everywhere at once, without a fixed starting point or finish," the message said. "There's no advertised starting point to the celebrations due to police tactics of containing movement ... keep moving and don't let the cops trap and surround you!"
Among the actions planned for the day are a circus, a "wake for capitalism", a giant soccer game and an anti-war protest outside the U.S. embassy, which occupies a prominent position in the middle of Mayfair.
There are early indications that the Mayfair protests may not reach the scale of previous years, however. Globalize Resistance, one of the anti-capitalist groups that helped to set up last year's Oxford Circus protest, is joining up with unions to organize a march in a different part of the British capital this May.
"We've always argued that May Day is an international workers' day," said Globalize Resistance spokesman Guy Taylor. "Traditionally, there has been a small worker's march, comprised mostly of immigrant groups from countries where the May Day tradition is strong."
"We want to re-establish May Day as a (national) holiday in Britain and as an international day of protest," he said.
Taylor didn't disown last year's protests but admitted Globalize Resistance was altering its tactics.
"After what happened last May Day, we had much more public sympathy than the police did," he said. "But we are changing ... we want to focus on the struggles of workers."
Taylor said his group wouldn't condemn more radical action and would encourage "any form of protest" on May 1.
A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said Monday that officials weren't ready to divulge details of this year's May 1 police operations.
Celebrations disrupted
A newspaper report said Sunday that anarchist groups are also planning to disrupt celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ascension to the British throne.
The Observer reported that the Movement Against the Monarchy will set off loud fireworks and unfurl banners during events planned for the four-day Golden Jubilee holiday in early June. The group will also target the queen's national tour, the paper reported.
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