The 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street will be marked by a major march and rally on Sunday 4 October, one of a host of anti-far right events taking place across the capital to commemorate the day in 1936 when Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists were chased off the streets of east London.
Organised by Unite’s Action Network and the Together on Cable Street alliance, marchers from across London and elsewhere will gather at 12.00 outside Tower Hamlets Town Hall while the march will start 1pm.
The Battle of Cable Street was by far the country’s biggest mobilisation against home-grown fascism. Mosley’s antisemitism had become increasingly poisonous and he planned a provocative march through the Jewish community of east London, followed by four huge public meetings.
The East London Jewish community and a coalition of left wing and working class organisations, including the ILP, resisted the fascist incursion, bringing more than 100,000 to the streets under the slogan ‘They Shall Not Pass’. The 5,000 fascists were unable to march and the police redirected them – a massive humiliation for Mosley.
Ten years ago the ILP republished a first-hand account of the day to mark the 80th anniversary. First published soon after the events of 4 October 1936, They Did Not Pass: 300,000 Workers says NO to Mosley tells the story of the build-up, from Mosley’s announcement of his intention to march to the calls for resistance, and traces the violent events of the day itself up to the moment at 3.40pm when the commissioner of police told Mosley he could not go any further.
They Did Not Pass was originally sold for one old penny and is now available free to download as a pdf document from our Publications page.
The 2026 march will be preceded by a warm-up gig on Saturday 3 October at Kachette in nearby Shoreditch, featuring music from King Alpha Sound System and Sports Banger, while other events on 4 October include a Cockney Poetry Slam and a concert by the Grand Union Orchestra.
The weeks leading up to the anniversary weekend are dotted with cultural events, discussions, films and book launches, including a working class opera and a Battle of Cable Street exhibition. Full details of all events can be found here.
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More about Together on Cable street is here.
More about the Unite Action Network is here.