October 4th marks the anniversary of the events that came to be known as the Cable Street battle in East London in 1936. We take this opportunity to publish a text that was initially printed and circulated right after the events by the Independent Labour Party (ILP).
The Independent Labour Party was established in 1893 and was instrumental in the founding of the British Labour Party in 1903. In 1932 it disaffialated from the Labour Party and moved rapidly to the left under the pressure of events- the profound crisis of British capitalism lead the right wing leaders of the Labour Party to form a coalition government with the Conservative Party. Trotsky advised his small group of supporters to join the ILP -which he characterised as “centrist”, or vacillating between a reformist and a revolutionary position- and to work with its left wing. Unfortunately the potential for the crystallisation of a semi-mass or mass new left party was not realized.
The document outlines the details around how the counter-demo to the fascists was organised, and draws out the main political lessons from it. It presents the positions of the ILP, some of which are not correct in our view, but still, they hold particular interest.
In any case, the conclusions of the struggle to stop the fascists then remain relevant today- and this pamphlet outlines them very well. Especially in a period where the Far-Right and fascist trends are gaining ground and threaten the working class, in Britain and worldwide.
This pamphlet was transcribed by ISp comrades, from what we know it’s the first time it is presented publicly as a text.
They did not pass- 300,000 Workers Say NO to Mosley
A souvenir of the East London Workers’ Victory over Fascism
On Sunday, October 4th, 1936, yet another glorious page in the history of the East London Working Class was written. East London workers irrespective oftheirrace, or creed, irrespective of their political affiliations, Jews and Gentiles, Communists, Socialists, and Labour Party supporters, demonstrated to the whole world that the best traditions of East London’s militant past were safe in their hands. On that day the working class of London scored a tremendous victory against the forces of reaction.
Mosley [editor’s note: Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley was the leader of the fascists in the UK during the interwar period] had announced that he would march through East London at the head of his private army after reviewing his military columns. East London was to be cowed by the strength of the fascist forces. Nothing was to stand in the way. ThePolice said that Mosley was to march, the Home Office said Mosley was to march, His Majesty’s Government said Mosleywas to march, Mosley said through his own organs he was going to march! But the workers said NO !And NO IT WAS. MOSLEY DID NOT MARCH through East London.
As soon as the proposed fascist march was announced,the whole of the East End of London began to seethe with indignation. Everyone understood its provocative intent. A challenge was being flung by the reactionary fascist forces at the workers of East London. Anonymous slogans began to appear— “Kill the Jews.” Huge posters announcing that Mosley was to march and speak appeared on all East End hoardings. The fascist newspapers chortled with glee. The fascists were on the march! “We’ll be seeing you on Sunday.” Anti-Jewish propaganda, sole stock-in-trade of the fascist thugs, was intensified. East London was to be terrorized into submission. The march on Sunday was scheduled to be the high spot of the fascist campaign. A fascist triumph was to be recorded.
But the Fascists had not taken into account the SOLIDARITY and class understanding of the East London working class. Reaction to this provocation was instantaneous. A huge petition calling upon the Home Secretary to ban the march was immediately organized, and within a few days almost 100,000 signatures were obtained and presented to the Home Office.
The Mayors of five East London Boroughs concerned called on the Home Office, and requested the Home Secretary to forbid the march. The newspapers stressed the “gravity” and “tenseness” of the situation, all commented upon the feeling of indignation aroused by the provocation of the fascists. The Home Office did not deign to reply. It became clear to the working class and anti-fascist organizations that the Home Office was determined that the march should take place.
Within the ranks of the workers rose the question, “What now!”. The proposed march was a threat. The fascists were obviously looking for trouble. Even that respectable ruling class mouthpiece the Times admitted this; in a leader it declared that “the proposal of the fascists to march through the largely Jewish area does not suggest a desire to avoid provocation.” The Birmingham Post, another very respectable Tory newspaper, writing after the event, went even further: “The fascists went into the East End expecting that they were to be permitted to carry out their plans. There were sound reasons for discouraging to say the least their meetings in the East End, let alone forbidding the march.Their talk about the rights of free speech is an abuse of words. What they seek is not so much to exercise their right to free speech as to provoke occasion for free fights.”
This the workers fully understood. Discussion began as to the most effective way of defeating the threat of the fascist gangs.
The Labour leaders, including George Lansbury, appealed to the workers to stay away. The Jewish Board of Deputies appealed to the Jews to stay away. The Daily Herald, the News Chronicle, the Labour and Liberal press all appealed to everyone to stay away. Everything possible was done to damp down working class anger. To stay away and do nothing, or to stop the march by the organized forces of the masses: that became the issue. Were the working class forces to retreat yet once more! When was this habit of retreating to stop? When were the workers going to say: “thus far and no further”? These were the questions that had to be answered.
Knowing that this was no question of the “right of free speech” or the right of “public assembly,” understanding that to remain passive was to retreat, and would make the position worse for the future, the policy of staying away was rejected. The I.L.P. and the Communist Party, the more advanced workers, commenced the preparations for a vast counter demonstration. In a sentence, the action decided upon—the action of the masses on October 4th—was dictated by the determination to put anend to fascist provocation and tenor, whose existence the capitalist press itself admitted.
The workers, especially the young workers of East London, went into action. Hardly had the fascist posters appeared before they were torn down. Fascist slogans were obliterated, workers slogans substituted. Everywhere in East London pavements and roads were whitewashed with slogans: “They Shall Not Pass,” “Bar the Road to Fascism,” “No Black and Tans for East London.”[Editor’s note: the Black and Tans where the paramilitary forced used by British imperialism in Ireland, and they were infamous for their brutal methods- the name comes from their uniforms]
The I.L.P. and the Communist Party issued a call for a great counter-demonstration to stop Mosley. The I.L.P. issued the following call in a leaflet.
SAY “NO” TO FASCISM!
I.L.P. CALL TO EAST LONDON WORKERS.
Shall Blackshirts march through East London?
Using Hitler’s methods, Mosley prepares his campaign to
SMASH WORKING CLASS ORGANISATION,
DESTROY WORKING CLASS RIGHTS,
DRIVE JEWISH WORKERS TO THE GUTTERS.
Throughout the world, Fascism is the same. British fascism will use violence and terrorism as ruthlessly as German or Spanish Fascism. Shall British workers stand on one side? Shall we follow German workers into slavery and the loss of every right we possess? That is what neutrality would mean.
SAY “NO” TO FASCISM!
Rally in your thousands against it
ALDGATE SUNDAY 2 P.M.
Unite against the Fascist gang! Unite against the workers’ enemy! East London Workers—our united action can and must
SMASH FASCISM IN EAST LONDON.
The printers refused to print this leaflet. Nevertheless the call was issued. It was issued as a duplicated sheet and distributed in thousands, receiving widespread publicity. A statement containing the call was issued to the Press, and every LondonEvening and National Daily Paper carried the appeal to millions. The Evening Standard went so far as to produce a poster which was displayed all over London announcing a “Big I.L.P. Counter Rally.” Within a few hours of the call, Sunday’s counter demonstration became the sole topic in the East End, and in the trams, busses and tubes everyone was discussing the pros andcons of the situation. The C.P. fortunate in having its own press available in London, printed and distributed thousands of leaflets calling on the workers to rally and stop the march.
On Thursday night a loud speaker van hired the I.L.P. toured East London, calling upon the workers to demonstrate against fascism. At the Hackney Town Hall on Friday night a large audience attending an I.L.P. meeting in support of the Spanish workers carried a resolution that a telegram should be dispatched to the Home Secretary demanding that the March be banned as otherwise they would be held responsible for theconsequences. On Saturday morning posters appeared issued by the Ex-Servicemen’s Anti-Fascist Organization calling on all ex-servicemen to march against Mosley. Anti-fascist activity increased throughout the day. The masses were stirred. Even those who had been in favor of staying away changed their minds on realizing that the Home Office had no intention of banning the march.
Early on Sunday morning it was clear that the East End was on the move. Doubt had gone. All along the route people were preparing in their thousands to swell the ranks of the counter demonstration. Here is just one indication of this feeling: a Labour Party collector in Poplar who usually collected late on Sunday mornings was out very early in order to get to the “other end,” (Aldgate) and asked others to follow suit, against the declared policy of the Labour Party [editor’s note: meaning that the Labour Party official was trying to finish collecting subs from members early so they could attend the demonstration].
By 1.30 tens of thousands of anti-fascist workers had assembled. They formed a solid block at the junction of Commercial Street, Whitechapel Road, and Aldgate. Thousands had massed in Cable Street. It was through these roads that Mosley would have to march to fulfil his program. Everywhere young and spirited workers were determined that the Fascists Should Not Pass. The whole of the East End was alive with activity. In the back streets from Aldgate to Limehouse were other workers also ready to take their share should the police be able to force a way for Mosley.
Every available policeman, foot and mounted, plain clothes and uniformed, was mobilized to make way for Mosley. Observance planes circled overhead. Vans equipped with wireless were at strategic points. But the workers were determined. At all costs Mosley must be stopped. Louder and louder grew the chant “THEY SHALL NOT PASS.” The police charged again and again, but no sooner had they cleared one side of the streets than the workers poured in again. All traffic was brought to a standstill. No matter what attempts the police made toclear the streets, no matter how many brutal charges they made, the workers stood together determined to resist to the end. Workers poured in their thousands into Royal Mint Street, near the Tower of London, where the Fascists had assembled. Here fighting broke out. In this struggle many Blackshirts were knocked down by infuriated workers. The police were not relishing their job. Though many workers were arrested, the number of rescues the workers achieved outnumbered by far the arrests.
At Cable Street, Stepney the workers erected barricades. A lorry was dragged form a builder’s yard and with this as afoundation a barricade was built across the roadway. Paving stones were torn up. Glass and marbles were thrown into the roadway to hinder the mounted police. The police endeavoured for three hours to clear the road, but they failed completely even though the antifascist workers were unarmed.
By three o’clock it had become clear that Mosley and his Blackshirts could only carry out their march by the police literally hacking their way through the massed workers. Indeed it was doubtful whether’ the five thousand police could have cleared a way, despite the fact that they had batons and the workers were unarmed. Many observers present took the view that Mosley would never get through except behind armed troops.
From two o’clock onwards Fenner Brockway, the Secretary of the I.L.P., together with large numbers of members of the Party, had been in the thick of the resisting crowd at Aldgate. Just after three he made his way to a telephone box in White-chapel Road and telephoned to the Home Office. The Home Secretary was not there, but the high Home Office official to whom he spoke promised that his message would be passed on. Brockway warned the Home Secretary of what would happen. “There are a quarter of a million people here,” he said. “They are peaceful and unarmed, but they are determined that Mosley’s provocative march shall not pass. If you permit it,yours will be the responsibility for the serious consequences.”
At three-forty the Commissioner of Police informed Mosley that the march through the East End would not be permitted. Instead it must turn towards the West End and disperse on the Embankment.
The authorities had realized at length that when the workers said “They Shall Not Pass” they meant it. It was borne home to them that if they desired to clear the road for Mosley bloody scenes would ensue and that every inch of the roadway three miles away to Limehouse would have to be contested. So the decision was taken to inform the Fascists that the march was off. Workers mass action had achieved what all protests had failed to do.
When this information was communicated to the fascists, uproar broke out. At that moment they revealed all their vileness with a display of filthy language directed against the Jews. They had confidently expected that the police would ensure that they had a day out, and they were greatly disappointed.
LESSONS WE MUST LEARN.
The first lesson of the Workers’ Victory is the effectiveness of mass unity. The call to come on the streets was made by the I.L.P., the C.P., and the Ex-servicemen’s organization. It was opposed by the Labour Party and Jewish leadership, but nevertheless the rank and file of the Labour Party and the Trade Unions and the masses of Jewish workers responded to the call.
This unityofaction must be maintained, and out of it must be built not only a movementof resistance to Fascism, but a united militant working class which will go forward to winWorkers Power and Socialism.
The question of Fascist terrorism in the East End of London must also be faced. Already the number of acts of individual terrorism has increased. Isolated Jewish workers have been attacked, and more of this must be expected. Working class meetings have been’ attacked where the Fascists were present in large numbers, and this too, is likely to increase.
It is necessary now, whilst theoverwhelming anti-Fascist feeling that has been mobilized remains at its height, to prepare to defeat Fascist terrorism.
In East and North London today the workers are compelled seriously to consider the question of establishing an organization to defend themselves. The whole lesson of history is that the State machine will be used against the workers. This was demonstrated on the Sunday of Mosley’s “march” when the police force was used to defend the Fascists. The working class organizations in East London must consider in a thorough and well organized way how they can defend themselves against the threats which now surround them.
The Labour Party, which had opposed the counter-demonstration called by the I.L.P. and the C.P., adopted at its Annual Conference at Edinburgh a resolution asking “that the use of political uniform should be forbidden.” This ignores and misunderstands the whole nature of Fascism. On the same Sunday that the East London workers stopped the Mosley march a similar conflict was taking place in Paris. Yet in France the Fascist Leagues had been dissolved by the very process which the Labour Party Conference proposes—by the banning of uniform and the “outlawing” of the Fascist organizations. Nevertheless, the French Fascists were able on this Sunday to precipitate the most bloody riots in recent French history.
The Fascists will not be overcome by merely banning uniforms and declaring their organizations illegal. They will only be defeated by the mass strength of the workers and by the determination of the workers—first to defend themselves against Fascism and then to go on and win power for themselves.
The police authorities explained the crowds on the streets by the “sunny weather”! Mosley complained that the last minute decision of the authorities to ban the march meant that they had surrendered to “Red Terrorism”! The truth is that the workers of East London would have massed on the streets whatever the weather because they were determined to show that they would not tolerate “Fascist Terrorism”.
In Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain, Fascism has revealeditself as a reign of terror against the workers. East London workers at least are not going to have that in Britain.
The I.L.P. calls on the workers of East London to maintainand intensify their spirit of resistance to Fascism. lt proposes that all Working class organizations of East London—the Trade Unions, Co-ops., the Labour Parties, the Workers’ Circle, the Ex-servicemen’s organization, the I.L.P., and the C.P.—should meet in an all-in Conference to plan for defense against Fascism and for a forward movement to win Workers’ Power in East London through militant unity.
The Fascists Did Not Pass; but we must not be content with this. Mosley is the advance guard of Capitalism. We must now carry the offensive against Capitalism itself and against the National Government which represents it: We must determine that they shall pass away forever!
Working class unity on a militant basis can smash Fascism. It can defend East London workers against Fascist terrorism. It can overthrow the National Government. It can win Workers’ Power, overthrow Capitalism and establish Socialism!
Let our defeat of Mosley be the first step towards that.
Independent Labour Party
