by Matthew Tempest
GuardianApril 19, 2002
Anti-globalisation protesters and traditional trade union activists plan to march side-by-side through London's streets this May Day, in what organisers are hoping will be the first non-confrontational demonstration in the capital for three years.
Organisers hope that 20,000 demonstrators will join the annual trade union parade, which this year culminates in a rally at Trafalgar Square - a first while parliament is still sitting.
Last year around 2,000 people were trapped by a police cordon at Oxford Circus for eight hours without food, water or toilet facilities. The Met's tactic followed the 2000 May Day protest, where a McDonald's restaurant was wrecked and a statue of Winston Churchill adorned with a strip of grass to give the war leader a mohican hairdo.
The event, on Monday May 6, will feature a procession from Clerkenwell Green to Trafalgar Square, where the rally will be addressed by former MP Tony Benn.
Roger Sutton, from the London May Day organising committee, said he was confident the protests would go ahead without trouble. But Mr Sutton said he hoped the event would combine traditional trade union values with a carnival atmosphere.
He said: "It is the first time in Britain trade unions and the anti-globalisation movement have come together in this way."
Asked about how trouble brewed after recent similar demonstrations in Seattle and Barcelona, he said: "Certainly in terms of Barcelona, there were 500,000 involved of which 200 got involved in a fight."
Mr Sutton insisted there would be no trouble in the May Day protests unless there were "any problems which we don't know about".
He said: "We are aiming to have as big a turnout as possible.. We will have discussions with the police but there are not any big problems we can foresee." A anti-globalisation protest in Rome three weeks ago attracted more than 1 million people.
A statement released by the organising committee said the increasing threat of war and the privatisation programme would ensure support for the May Day protest.
A "sessional order" usually prohibits the use of Trafalgar Square while parliament is sitting. But this year Globalise Resistance - the umbrella group which coordinates anti-corporate protest groups - are attempting to cooperate with police, so an exemption was granted by the Greater London authority.
The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir John Stevens, said: "We will do everything we need to do to make sure there is no breakdown in public order or damage to buildings."
A spokesman for Globalise Resistance said: "We really want May Day to attract far wider forces than in recent years. The May Day organising committee traditionally attracts large numbers of ethnic community groups to the streets on May Day.
He added: "The amount of discontent amongst trade unionists, especially public sector workers is growing. May Day can become an expression of this widespread feeling amongst ordinary people. "This May Day, immigrants, families and workers will be joining us on the streets, so we do want a festive and enjoyable day."
"Mayday Monopoly mayhem" was predicted in much of the media last year after an anti-globalisation website recommended following the route of the boardgame. Shops on Oxford Street were warned to board their shops up, with Nike and Gap in particular expected to be targeted.
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