Jeremy Corbyn

It was there everywhere except Britain because it was always a workers' day holiday in most parts of the world, not everywhere.

And then we always celebrated May Day with May Day marches and so on.

There used to be the most severe arguments within the London Labour movement about whether the march should be on May 1st or the first convenient weekend after May 1st.

Big debate.

The origin of May Day is... I think like most of our national holidays and national events, it's a mixture of things in history.

I think at one level it's a celebration of spring, a celebration of rebirth, of coming of things.

That's right, the maypole dancing and the health and floral dance and all that sort of thing.

It's partly that.

And it was also...

First celebrated, I think I'm right in saying, in Chicago in the late 19th century, or that's about the 19th century, as a workers' day.

And it then developed as a global workers' day.

But I find May Day marches, at one level, you say, well, what's it for?

The other level is...

a way of people coming together and celebrating a sense of unity and a sense of solidarity.

And I've been on a lot of May Day marches.

The most poignant one I went on, which I didn't realise it at the time, was 1969.

I was in Chile.

He was a very young man, travelling around Latin America, observing what was going on.

The Popular Unity Force, led by Salvador Allende, had just been formed, and they were ready to fight the elections the year later, 1970.

And so I was in Santiago on May Day, and I came across this massive march assembling.