 |
| Courtesy of londonmayday.org |
May Day. One of the most widely celebrated holidays in the world. In the UK? Well, sort of. As in many countries the coming of spring, a tradition of celebrating pagan fertility gods, and workers’ demonstrations dating back to the Industrial Revolution have merged. As befits a country with an unwritten constitution (yes, I know, only partly) there is a mostly unspoken merging. So May Day is not observed, but the first Monday in May is an unnamed statutory holiday.
Which doesn’t prevent some workers’ recognition of the day, and in fact there was a rally at noon at Clerkenwell Green, at which Mick Lynch, union firebrand, was speaking. But we note that this is on more or less as it ends.
Like some other countries - well, the other Anglo-Saxon ones to be specific - the UK has attempted to separate the traditional celebrations from labour militancy and from international solidarity. There is also a bit of somewhat shameful history, though it’s not recent:
“Evil May Day is the name given to a xenophobic riot that took place in 1517 as a protest against foreigners living in London. The rioting reached from Newgate Prison in the west to Blanchappleton near Aldgate in the east. Innocent immigrants had their homes attacked, lives threatened and possessions ruined by hundreds of people. At least 15 of the rioters were hanged for treason.” [Evening Standard].
The other Anglo countries have changed the date, changed the name to Labour Day and focused on saying nice things about workers instead of demanding justice. Though there are still some May Day observances in Quebec and the Canadian west. International solidarity not completely vanquished.