Nearly nine decades after the residents of Tower Hamlets successfully expelled Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts, the need for a united front against far-right groups remains crucial in the area.
“The East End of London represents the far right’s primary battleground – it embodies everything they oppose. They believe that if they can parade through our borough without resistance, it sets a precedent for them to do so anywhere else. For them, it’s akin to winning the FA Cup final; it’s their ultimate prize,” explained Glyn Robbins, who helped establish United East End, a coalition of community groups opposing far-right extremism.
In this historically working-class district, nestled close to the financial heart of London, there is a strong sense that history is echoing itself. This month marks 89 years since local residents, many of whom were British Jews, stood up to Mosley’s Blackshirt paramilitary forces in Whitechapel, an event famously remembered as the Battle of Cable Street.
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