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. But I want to urge everyone who has the slightest sympathy with any of the stated objectives of the May Day Monopoly protesters not to attend this action on 1 May.
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 reason you should not go on these actions is because the organisers do not wish to convince the public of their objectives. Instead they want to carry out individual acts of defiance whose main impact will be to alienate the vast majority. In other words, they will set back the widely supported movements against environmental degradation, deregulation, debt and racism.
This kind of activity should be contrasted with the years of genuinely effective demonstrations which have sought to mobilise the majority of those who support a cause rather than alienate the public. London has a proud record of ensuring the rights of those who wish to protest to do so without interference or obstruction from the police. As the new authority responsible for Trafalgar Square, I will work to ensure that the square retains its landmark status as a home to such movements.
But the entire political approach of the organisers of MayDay Monopoly has nothing to do with the mass demonstrations organised by the Anti-Apartheid Movement, CND or the Committee to Stop War in the Gulf. The problem with next month's protests is that violence is not incidental. In contrast with the mass movements I have mentioned, no attempt has been made to organise the protests to minimise conflict with the police or to maximise peaceful participation. There is no central point of contact for the police to negotiate with and the protesters' chosen image of masks and uniforms of boiler suits padded to protect them from the police is both provocative and deliberately designed to minimise participation from ordinary people.
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 unlikely to be worried by the concerns of shop workers about the targeting of their workplaces.
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.
The secretive organisation of the May Day Monopoly protesters is a perfect example of élitism. The extent to which sympathetic members of the public are asked to participate is very much on the terms of the organisers. It means that those who turn up wanting to protest peacefully against globalisation or debt end up as protecting fodder for those who have already planned their actions. It therefore tends to be the innocent who are thrown unprepared into unnecessary confrontations with the police. If the protesters' objectives are so benign, why do they hide behind masks?
As mayor of London, it is my duty to look after the interests of London as a whole. London's economy has already been badly hit by the impact of foot-and-mouth on the tourist trade: turning major tourism and shopping areas into economic targets is simply not acceptable.
I have met the Commissioner of the Police for a full briefing on the planned May Day Monopoly events along with the chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Toby Harris. Both Toby and I will continue to be briefed in the run up to 1 May. I have asked the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to ensure London is safe on May Day. Anyone whose intention it is to engage in criminal activities should be arrested and charged without prevarication or unnecessary delay.
London should not have to tolerate any violence or abuse towards its citizens. That is why last week I called for the fascist National Front to be banned from marching through Bermondsey. On my inauguration last year, I said that my administration will be as intolerant of the racist police officer as it will of the anarchist who chooses to desecrate the Cenotaph. Under my mayoralty, there will never be a green light for a return to the bad old days of unaccountable policing. But on 1 May there will be zero tolerance of people who want to disrupt and vandalise London.
My message is clear don't attend the May Day Monopoly actions.