A brief roundup from the day’s demo in the capital:
Known variously as Mayday, Labour day, Beltane, International Worker’s Day, however this poignant day is configured, May the 1st carries a lot of weight in the socio-political calendar.
This year the prominent group in the turn out for Mayday were those protesting the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. Many began to gather as early as 8am as the carnival of resistance block galvanised in Brixton. Led by a samba band this group brought the sound from South London to meet other protesters meeting at Trafalgar Square. When different groups assembled in central there was a decent turn out of a few thousand people.
Whilst those rallying to ‘KILL THE BILL’ were the majority out on the day, there were many other groups and causes interspersed in the crowd. From ‘Free Julian Assange’ to individuals bent on anti globalisation, the crowd was a medley of civil unrest.
The march was upbeat and everyone was in high spirits throughout the long route through central London. An open topped London bus was leading the crowd projecting tunes through the streets keeping the troupe animated.
At the close of the afternoon the crowd eventually came to halt as Vauxhall’s Pleasure Gardens, meet by two sound systems already set up on the green. A rented truck hosted a generator and a small stack playing high energy disco and dance tunes. Nearby a bicycle sound system blasted tekno and punchy rave music. The party in the park made for a refreshing close to the demo, a knees up in South London ever more preferable than a kettle outside Downing Street.
