The onset of the financial crisis in 2007 had differing political ramifications across the world — developed capitalist countries, post colonial states, along with newly emerging countries (BRICS). 

In short, left and progressives are having to engage with the differential fallout of the financial crisis. To this has been added the pervasive environmental crisis and the outbreak of a global pandemic.

This backdrop has seen the emergence of authoritarian regimes all over the world bent on playing the nationalistic card under the guise of ethnicity, faith or geographical specificity.

Tied to this cocktail of anti-democratic tendencies is the fear and scapegoating of the “other” — refugees, migrants, Muslims, Jews or whoever — as a rallying point to whip up hatred and unite a mythical besieged indigenous community.

Some of these characteristics are eerily similar to the scene in the 1930s: a deep- seated economic recession, a crisis of democratic institutions, military rearmament, the decline of social democracy, the emergence of ultra-right forces and hostility against minorities. 

What can be the relevance of the Battle of Cable Street today as the left faces the challenge of moving forward politically at a global, national and, most importantly, at a local and neighbourhood level? 

The battle could not have taken place without an initial building of alliances between different sections of the community, based on shared principles. The key is the importance of grass-roots community work allied with links to the labour movement and other left political forces.  

The groundwork for the extraordinary mobilisation of the 1930s lay in the tenants’ struggle, anti-racist movements, confronting the fascists and joint work with trade unions. This was led by the local Communist Party.

The second element that determined the success was the unity forged between the Jewish residents and their mainly Irish neighbours. 

Again, this followed on from the solidarity struggles that linked the day-to-day struggles of the local community with the bread-and-butter issues of trade unionists. 

Finally, we saw the forging of the broadest possible unity between different elements of the local population which thereby strengthened and hardened the resistance against the Blackshirts.

In 21st-century Tower Hamlets the big battalions of the working class such as the dockers are no longer present. The Jewish community with its strong left-wing tradition is absent. 

The physical “regeneration” of the former docklands along with the area bordering the City has seen a recomposition of the demographic profile in terms of class and age.

The post-colonial migration of an ethnically distinct Bengali community with Islam as their predominant religion has largely replaced the Jewish community. In such changed circumstances how do we reconstruct the Popular Front of Cable Street?

The question can be legitimately posed: how do we transfer the lessons of the 1930s to the new and changed conditions of the 2020s? In other words how do we construct an anti-racist and anti-fascist coming together of the local population in today’s Tower Hamlets? What concretely needs to be done in the present East End?

The starting point has to be the defence of the local communities against the attacks of fascist forces such as the EDL. 

We have to adopt the slogan of the 1930s:  they shall not pass. We also need to respond to the present by boldly proclaiming: no ifs and no buts, victims of fascism and racism must be defended. 

This has acquired greater urgency as the ruling class tries to drive a wedge between the diverse sections of the local population: Muslims v non-muslims, yuppies v workers, residents v public-sector workers.

Above all we need to be continuously vigilant and wage an uncompromising  ideological battle against anti-semitism and Islamophobia. We need to boldly proclaim that an attack on a Jew is an attack on a Muslim, a desecration of a Mosque is tantamount to vandalising a Synagogue. 

Under no circumstances should the problems in the Middle East divide the local communities that are the targets of fascists and racists.

The memory of Cable Street and subsequent anti-fascist struggles of 1978 and 1993 needs to be passed on to the new generations. 

An annual celebratory event on Cable Street should be initiated to continue the work started on occasion of the 75th and 80th anniversary of Cable Street in 2011 and 2016. Only in that way we can ensure permanently that They Shall Not Pass! 

Nisar Ahmed is an economist, community activists and Communist Party executive member.