Cable Street - 90 years on

Remembering two 1926 anti-fascist protesters

An anti-far right march was held in London yesterday, in commemoration of the Battle of Cable Street 90 years ago, in which London's East End drove out Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists as they attempted, aided by the police, to intimidate the predominantly Jewish community of the East End.

The protestors gathered at 12 noon to hear speeches from Tower Hamlets' political, faith and community leaders. Speakers included Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman and author Michael Rosen. Rosen through a poem delivered to the crowd, spoke of his parents' fight against fascism, through collecting money for the anti-facist cause during the Spanish civil war and their bravery on Cable Street 90 years ago.

The march today felt particularly poignant given the context of the growing far right, abroad and at home. This sentiment was echoed in the banners of the marchers. Some carried pictures of their relatives who had been at Cable Street 90 years ago, and one man carried a replica of a 1936 slogan 'Keep the blackshirt thugs on the run'. The groups in attendance included the Cable Street Group, Jewish bloc for Palestine, The Great Yiddish Parade band, Unite, Jewish Socialists' Group and many others.

Rajan Uddin Jalal, leading figure in the Bangladesh Youth Movement's fight against racism in the 1980s and the 1990s said: "The racists are active again. There is a new form of racism now, there is a new form of fascism - which includes Islamophobia. We are here today to campaign against racism, fascism and division within our communities. We want peace for all people, we want to live peacefully, in harmony, in our multicultural communities."

Also in attendance were the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). Mark Dunn, Community Projects Co-ordinator for JRS said: "We are a Catholic charity, based in Tower Hamlets and are aware of the local history. We know that sadly the events of 1936 aren't too dissimilar to what's happening now in 2026, in that we see people organising themselves on the streets again, wearing all black and trying to bring hate and division to the streets."

He spoke of the fear of black and Asian communities, and the fear felt by refugees, going through an already oppressive system, "They [refugees] are also facing really restrictive laws and policies based on their lack of status that then has a direct impact on their lives - destitution, homelessness, legal insecurity, mental health problems and a real sense of injustice. That's why we're here today, because we know what hate and division looks like, and we're against that."

Dunn, when asked about the Catholic nature of the organisation, explained that JRS while having Christian members, is a mutli-faith organisation with a diverse faith and no faith community.

"A lot of our friends find that their faith is a great source of resilience for them as they're going through a really oppressive system."