Mayor Lutfur Rahman speaks at Cable St anniversary

IT IS 90 years since trade union and anti-fascist activists chased members of the British Union of Fascists off the streets of Shadwell – uniting under the slogan “They shall not pass”.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman marked the day by joining local trade union and anti-fascist activists to walk from the Town Hall down to Cable Street and to speak to the crowds which gathered in Cable Street.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman speaks to demonstrators.

“As Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, I am immensely proud to have been part of this historic commemoration, marking 90 years since the Battle of Cable Street, a defining moment in the history of our borough and East London,” he said.

“On 4th October 1936, thousands of people from Stepney and across East London took to the streets to oppose a planned march by Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. That historic day became known as the Battle of Cable Street, and 90 years later, its message remains as important as ever. It is a proud reminder of what can be achieved when people unite against racism, discrimination and injustice.”

Mayor Lutfur Rahman has seen support for the far right in Tower Hamlets mushroom and fade. Back in 1994, voters in Millwall ward, on the Isle of Dogs elected the UK’s first British National Party Councillor.  Early in his first term of office as Mayor, the English Defence League (EDL) tried to march through the borough. Mayor Rahman called on the Home Secretary to ban the march. On the day when it had been due to take place, the Mayor walked round the borough’s key areas to check all was well – especially Brick Lane and Whitechapel. Crowds turned out to see him and cheer him for what he was doing.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman was elected Mayor for the third time on 5th May 2022 – the 28th anniversary of the defeat of that BNP councillor. Threat of the EDL has been turned into a Muslim community confident enough to work as grassroots community leaders and even win seats on the Council – helped by the Mayor’s leadership.

Tower Hamlets is now one of the most harmonious boroughs in the country, where neighbours get on with each other. Right-wing extremists who plastered the borough’s lamp posts with Union Jack flags when the Government sent asylum seekers to live in the Britannia Hotel on the Isle of Dogs were largely ignored by the local community. The borough’s come a long way – but we can never be complacent.

Len McCluskey, Unite General Secretary, and Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman stand in front of the Cable Street memorial mural on St George’s Town Hall to mark the opening of a community centre in the building, 13th May 2013.

●Unite the union has commissioned a stained glass window to commemorate the Battle of Cable Street. This will be temporarily on display to the public at St George-in-the-East between 3pm and 5pm on Sunday. The church played a pivotal role in the Battle of Cable Street, as its revolutionary priest Father John Groser helped organise the local community against the fascists and also suffered a broken nose during the protest itself when he was hit several times by police batons.

Unite senior organiser Joe Rollin explained why the union remembers Cable Street. “The Battle of Cable Street is still as relevant today as it was 90 years ago. Communities and trade unionists are still fighting against the far right,” he said. “This event [the demonstration] will show once again that the politics of division and hate have no place in our society. When racism and fascism try to divide our communities, we stand together, organise and fight back.”

●Read more about it:
Deputy Mayor and colleagues mark Cable St anniversary
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