Cable St 4th October 1936. They did not pass, they shall not pass
The Battle of Cable St when Mosley’s fascists were stopped from marching in the East End by a demonstration of the local community, trade unionists, socialists and anti-fascists took place 88 years ago on 4th October 1936.
As Michael Rosen has noted of his parents Connie and Harold who were present on that day, they had seen Hitler and Franco and now Mosley was trying to do the same in Britain.
The fascists did not go away of course. After the war the British Union of Fascists were backing trying to intimidate Jews. The 43 Group was formed to stop them and the late Morris Beckman wrote a history of it:
The 43 Group was disbanded in 1950 but the fascists remained in active and in 1962 the 62 Group was formed to stop the successors to the BUF, the National Socialist Movement and others from attacking Jews and others.
An excellent series on this was broadcast by the BBC in 2021. Ridley Rd was written by Sarah Solemani who was born in Stamford Hill and whose father was active in the Anti-Nazi League
Even after the 62 Group’s work the fascists didn’t go away. By the mid-1970s they were back as the National Front still marching to intimidate minorities. The Battles of Wood Green and Lewisham saw them stopped on the street and the Anti-Nazi League was formed.
Like other fascist groups before them, the NF declined but as before in due course they were back as the BNP. They too were confronted, for example at Welling in 1993 where they had established a ‘bookshop’.
Unite Against Fascism was launched in 2003 and successfully opposed the BNP, which like other fascist groups before them declined.
More recently the EDL guided by Stephen Yaxley Lennon and others became the main fascist group on the streets. It too was confronted by anti-fascists and appears to have declined.
The wider point is that fascist politics are endemic to a market capitalist society, sometimes finding support, sometimes not, depending on context and times. As at Cable St 88 years ago however if they are not opposed they can become a serious problem.
Looking around Europe or the US it can be seen that fascist and far right politics continues to thrive in many places. Opposing it is essential but the task of doing it requires organisation, strategy and tactics and not everyone always agrees. It still needs to be done though.
The fascists are attempting to gather again in central London on 26th October. Cable St stands as a reminder of what is to be done
Leave a Reply