Skip to main content
Celebrating Cable Street
LYNNE WALSH interviews writer Alex Kanefsky and designer Yoav Segal about their new musical, Cable Street
VETERAN ANTI-FASCIST: (Left) Ubby Cowan, veteran of the battle of Cable Street and inspiration for the designs of his grandson, (Right) Yoav Segal [Courtesy of Yoav Segal]

THE Battle of Cable Street resonates as a vital moment in radical history, with the stories of those who fought there living on for future generations. The 1936 clash, between working-class people of London’s East End and Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, has attracted much attention from musicians and actors.

From the mid-1980s, when folk-punk band The Men They Couldn’t Hang gave us the anthemic The Ghosts of Cable Street, through to folkies The Young ‘Uns creating a new song, Cable Street, as part of their show about the anti-fascist Johnny Longstaff. A few years ago, the inimitable Stephen Berkoff staged his verse play, They Shall Not Pass, and this year sees the continued run of The Merchant of Venice 1936, transposed to the East End, and Tracy-Ann Oberman as Shylock, as fascists threaten the community.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
covers
Music / 19 April 2026
19 April 2026

New releases from Kneecap, Sam Blasucci, and Juni Habel

IS
Music / 3 November 2025
3 November 2025

New releases from The Dreaming Spires, Bruce Springsteen, and Chet Baker

IS
Music / 14 July 2025
14 July 2025

New releases from Allo Darlin’, Loyle Carner and Mike Polizze

IS
Album reviews / 30 June 2025
30 June 2025

New releases from Toby Hay, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Dobson & The Hanging Stars