Cable Street Mural

 On a plaque next to the mural is the following information:
 On the 4th October 1936 the people of the East End halted a march by fascists in what has gone down in history as 'The Battle of Cable Street'. People from the Jewish community, communists, trade unionists, Labour Party members, Irish dockers and labourers joined forces to oppose the march through Stepney planned by Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and thousands of his followers known as 'Blackshirts'. Their uniforms echoed their counterparts in Italy and Germany.
The planned route was through an impoverished area with a high concentration of Jewish residents and was seen as a deliberate act of provocation. The government of the day refused the request by Jewish local and community groups to ban the march and on the day over 250,000 East Londoners took to the street to bar the way to British fascism. The Spanish Civil War had begun a few months earlier and opposition to Mosley's Blackshirts was seen as the same struggle as that being fought by the Spanish Republicans against Franco's German and Italian backed Nationalists. The slogan used by the Republicans in the defence of Madrid was adopted at the barricades in Cable Street - They shall not pass ( No pasaran).

The ensuing action ensured that Mosley's marchers were turned back and political history was made. One resulting legacy was the Public Order Act of 1936, banning the wearing of political uniforms in public. More importantly, on the day, the fascists did not pass and the people of the EastEnd played a crucial role in the defeat of organised British Fascism for decades to come.

 The battle is well documented. More information can be found at www.cablestreet.uk There was a lot of violence that day aimed at the police who were given the task of allowing the march to take place. There were 79 anti-fascist men and women arrested, many of them severely beaten by police. In contrast just five fascists were arrested.

The mural is painted on the side wall of St George's town hall and was started in 1976 by Dave Binnington. Due to several acts of vandalism he was unable to complete the project. The work was finally completed by three other artists: Paul Butler, Ray Walker and Desmond Rochfort in 1983. It was restored in 2011.


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