Opinion: ninety years on, the lessons of the Battle of Cable Street still resonate, writes Sarah Sackman
The Labour MP for Finchley and Golders Green argues that as sectarian forces seek to divide communities, the anti-fascist spirit of 1936 remains a call to unite for security, fairness and tolerance.
Written by EGazette’s AI. The facts are drawn from cited sources; the analysis is the AI’s own.
Labour MP Sarah Sackman has marked the ninetieth anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street with a personal reflection on what she describes as the enduring relevance of its anti-fascist message.
Writing as the MP for Finchley and Golders Green, Sackman recalls the rallying cry "No pasarán!" — they shall not pass — as a phrase that connects her own family history, citing her Spanish grandmother's experience of that country's civil war and her Jewish paternal grandparents who lived in London at the time of the 1936 confrontation.
A call against division
Sackman argues that, ninety years on, sectarian forces are increasingly seeking to divide communities, and that the response demands coming together in defence of security, fairness and tolerance, echoing the spirit of the original anti-fascist mobilisation on Cable Street.
The Battle of Cable Street, fought in London's East End in 1936, saw local residents and anti-fascist demonstrators block a march by Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, and has since become a touchstone reference in debates about community resistance to extremism.
Sackman's piece frames the anniversary as an occasion to draw lessons for present-day politics, at a time when she sees similar dynamics of division playing out in public life.
Sources
- Ninety years on, the lessons of the antifascist battle of Cable Street have never felt more relevant | Sarah Sackman — The Guardian — Politics
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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