“They shall not pass”: British Communists join thousands in Cable Street anti-fascist march

Thousands of people marched through East London on Sunday, October 4, marking the 90th anniversary of the historic Battle of Cable Street, when workers and residents of the East End prevented Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists from marching through the predominantly Jewish neighbourhood in 1936. 

 

Demonstrators gathered outside Tower Hamlets Town Hall in Whitechapel before marching to St George’s Gardens in Cable Street, carrying banners against fascism and racism and repeating the historic slogan “They Shall Not Pass.” Trade unions, community organisations and anti-racist groups were among those taking part. 

 

Communist Party of Britain to join mass anti-fascist rally in London on October 4

The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) will participate in a major march and rally in London on Sunday 4 October, marking the 90th anniversary of the historic Battle of Cable Street under the slogan “They Shall Not Pass.”

On 4 October 1936, more than 100,000 working-class people mobilised in East London against Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. Jewish residents, Irish dockers, trade unionists and other local workers erected barricades and resisted thousands of police officers attempting to clear the way for Mosley’s Blackshirts. The mass mobilisation ultimately forced the fascist march to turn back.