Stay away on May Day - Mayor
by Mayor Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone: 'Avoid the May Day Monopoly protest' ======================================
On 1 May this year, a demonstration will take place in London calling for the cancellation of Third World debt and the eradication of poverty; a stop to the privatisation of the Tube; and an end to environmental pollution. I support all those objectives and so do many others. I therefore want to explain clearly why all Londoners should not go on this demonstration. The right to peacefully protest is one of the most important we possess. Many millions of people gave their lives in war to defend it, others suffered persecution to achieve it. If there were an attempt to limit this right then Londoners, and the police, know that I would be one of the first to defend it. But on 1 May we are faced not with an attempt to exercise the peaceful right to protest but by a deliberate attempt by small groups of people to promote violence and destruction of property in London. Furthermore this violence is central to the objectives of those organising this action. There is a procedure for all those who wish to organise peaceful protests. It is to contact the police and work out all the details of the demonstration as early as possible. The Metropolitan Police has long experience of such activity and an ability to handle crowds of up to hundreds of thousands of people. This was known to the Anti-Apartheid Movement, CND, the campaign against the Industrial Relations Act and many others whose protests peacefully influenced British policy and history. Those organising the "MayDay Monopoly" protests on 1 May have deliberately chosen an entirely different course. They have intentionally refused any contact with the police. Rather than trying to minimise the possibility of violence or disorder on May Day this is clearly an attempt to maximise it. Equally clear is the image chosen by these organisers to project on the internet and elsewhere - masks and uniforms of boiler suits padded to protect them from the police. Apart from a tiny handful of Londoners who came from dictatorial regimes, who must protect themselves from dangers to their lives if they exercise their right to protest, there is no excuse whatever for anyone to appear on demonstrations concealing their identity. If they are urged to do so it is because those calling for it wish to commit illegal actions and conceal themselves from the police.
'Don't be fooled. What is planned by May Day Monopoly on 1 May is not a peaceful protest that may go wrong' - Ken Livingstone
The stickers produced to be used in Piccadilly Circus with the slogan "revolutionise your consumer rights - take the lot" are clearly aimed at smashing in shop fronts, as are the parts of the May Day Monopoly website which lists specific commercial targets in the West End. The hostility of the Monopoly organisers to the organised labour movement implies that they are likely to be equally indifferent to the concerns of shop workers about the targeting of their workplaces. These facts make it totally clear that the promotion of violence and destruction of property is a deliberate and central aim of those organising this action. While presenting themselves as speaking for the majority, these methods are an expression of manipulation and elitism. The extent to which members of the public are asked to participate is on the terms of the organisers. It means that those who turn up wanting to protest peacefully end up as protecting fodder for those who have planned their violent actions. It is the innocent who are often caught unprepared in confrontations with the police. If the protesters' objectives are so benign and democratic they do not need to hide behind anonymity. Finally, in addition to the basic right of all Londoners to go about their lives without intimidation, those who organise this activity act against the interests of the causes they claim to represent. Support for cancelling Third World debt, of banning non-medical animal experiments, protecting the environment and fighting poverty will be weakened, not aided, by pictures of damaged people or property after the demonstrations. Quite apart from the actual illegality of what is proposed, the disruption that is intended and the intimidation that many innocent people will experience, the aim is to carry out individual acts of violence whose main impact will be to alienate the vast majority. I know from my own experience last year that these protests are a tool against those who support peaceful protest or oppose Third World debt. Regardless of my frequently stated opposition to the protests, The Sun announced that "a vote for Ken is a vote for them", next to a picture of a defaced Winston Churchill statue. I have met the Commissioner of the Police for a full briefing on the planned May Day events. I have asked him to ensure London is safe on May Day. Anyone whose intention it is to engage in criminal activities should be arrested and charged. In particular, within the law, I would hope that attention will be paid, even before any trouble starts, to those attempting to conceal their identity. While operational policing is under the Commissioner's control, and not mine, I would like to give the clearest possible political message to ordinary Londoners. Don't be fooled. What is planned by May Day Monopoly on 1 May is not a peaceful protest that may go wrong. It is a deliberate attempt to create destruction in the capital. There is no way to share some of the aims of this demonstration and participate in it without furthering the aims of the violent people who are at its core. People wishing to find out about peaceful demonstrations should contact their local police station. I urge all Londoners to stay away from the May Day Monopoly protest on 1 May.
© Associated Newspapers Ltd., 24 April 2001 Terms and Conditions This Is London