Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
The Battle of Cable Street at 85: march with us this weekend
When thousands of anti-fascist Jews, trade unionists and communists successfully blockaded a major British Union of Fascists march through the East End of London in 1936, they set a legacy of resistance to the far right that continues today, writes DAVID ROSENBERG
Marchers mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street in 2016

NEXT WEEKEND I will march with other anti-racists through East London and then co-chair a rally with local Bengali activist Julie Begum to mark the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street.

In 1936 fascism was advancing across Europe. Here in Britain, with nearly three million unemployed, mass hunger, hopelessness and a loss of faith in conventional politics, a wannabe aristocratic politician, Oswald Mosley, planned to make a show of strength in East London where his movement — the British Union of Fascists — had its biggest branches.

Those four branches with thousands of members and supporters, formed a horseshoe around an enclave where 60,000 working-class Jews lived in fear of daily violence from Mosley’s Blackshirts.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
People take part in the Stand Up To Racism rally near the TLK Apartments and Hotel in Orpington, August 22, 2025
Anti-Racism / 23 October 2025
23 October 2025

Once again Tower Hamlets is being targeted by anti-Islam campaigners, this time a revamped and radicalised version of Ukip — the far-right event is now banned by the police, but we’ll be assembling this Saturday to make sure they stay away, says JAYDEE SEAFORTH

TORPEDOED: The SS Arandora Star, and (below) a memorial to  those killed
Commemoration / 25 April 2025
25 April 2025

The annual commemoration of anti-fascist volunteers who fought fascism in Spain now includes a key contribution from Italian comrades

THEY SHALL NOT PASS! Blue Plaque unveiling for Battle of Hol
Features / 28 February 2025
28 February 2025
An attempt to give the church credit for the mobilisation of 30,000 anti-fascists in Leeds in 1936 is an insult to the communists and socialists who fought the fascists, writes SAM KIRK
Features / 30 January 2025
30 January 2025
Donald Trump’s inauguration has emboldened fascists in Britain, warns SABBY DHALU