A proposal for a memorial of the ‘Battle of Corporation Field’ features among a host of motions to be discussed including on grooming gangs and rail electrification
The Guildhall, Hull City Council’s headquarters, will host full council later this week where calls for a memorial to a 1936 anti-fascist event in the city will feature(Image: Hull Live)
Hull Labour councillors are to propose funding is allocated to develop a memorial to a significant anti-fascist event in the city’s history. The so-called ‘Battle of Corporation Field’ on July 12, 1936, saw Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists run out of the city by a crowd of anti-fascists, trade unionists, workers, socialists, and members of Hull’s Jewish and Irish communities.
Ninety years on, a motion is being put forward to this week’s full council meeting for it to be commemorated. Similar events such as the Battle of Cable Street in East London, which happened after Hull’s incident, have their own memorials.
Hull City Council ‘s latest full council meeting is set to discuss five different motions on a range of subjects. Rail electrification and calls for a specific Hull grooming gang inquiry are among other topics raised.
Calls to give Hull ‘the permanent memorial it deserves’
The Labour -proposed motion calls on the council leader to use funding from the contingency fund to kick-start the process of organising such a memorial. Corporation Field stood where the Tesco Extra Car Park and St Stephen’s Shopping Centre are sited today, off Park Street.
The proposal requests working with the current landowners to find a way to commemorate the event. Cllr Shane McMurray, who represents Central Ward, where the event took place, has put it forward.
“Hull has a proud history as a diverse and welcoming city, one which has stood up to fascism in the past,” he said. “It’s so important we remember this history and keep these values alive in the present day.
“It’s a shame that the Battle of Corporation Field is not as well-known as the Battle of Cable Street and other events: hopefully we can put this right and give Hull the permanent memorial it deserves.”
Cllr Haroldo Herrera-Richmond (Labour – St Andrews and Dockland) came to Hull in the 1970s as a refugee from fascism in Chile. He said: “We have a duty to stand up to fascism, antisemitism and all forms of racism wherever they rear their heads. I am proud of Hull’s history of anti-fascism, not least because it gave sanctuary to my own family when we needed it most.”
Sir Oswald Mosley and his supporters, known as black shirts for their black uniform dress that imitated Mussolini’s Italian militia, came to Hull in July 1936 to rally support. But his intended speech was interrupted, firstly by microphone wires being cut and then by missiles being thrown and fights.
He and his supporters quickly retreated. An anonymous 1967 letter to the Hull Daily Mail saw an individual claim they bribed two boys with ice cream to cut the wires.
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Grooming gang inquiry call among other council motions
Councillors will also discuss whether to push for Hull’s inclusion as a specific geographical area of focus in the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs. Cllr Duncan Graham ( Reform UK – Marfleet) is calling for the council leader to write to the inquiry’s chair, Baroness Anne Longfield CBE, to request Hull be included as a Local Area Investigation.
Several places already have such a designation, like Oldham, Keighley and Bradford. As evidence of the need for Hull’s specialist inclusion, Cllr Graham’s motion cites previous media coverage of alleged child-based sexual exploitation in Hull and victim dissatisfaction with the outcome of two Humberside Police specialist investigations. Neither of these have seen charges arise from them.
Other proposals at full council include:
- Cllr Jack Haines’ ( Liberal Democrat – Boothferry) call for the incoming Prime Minister and Transport Secretary to commit to electrification of the Hull to Selby railway line.
- Cllr Kalvin Neal (Lib Dem – Holderness) has highlighted the comparative poor performance of Hull’s healthcare services. He has called for the Government to “establish an emergency action plan” for Hull and East Riding healthcare services, and for the incoming Prime Minister and Health Secretary to visit.
- Cllr Tracy Dearing (Labour – Newington and Gipsyville) wants the council to write to the Minister for Disability to raise concerns about inconsistency with delivery of the Access to Work scheme, which helps disabled people get sustained employment opportunities. The proposal also calls for the council to carry out a disabled access survey of all its buildings.
All the motions will be heard at full council on Thursday, July 16.
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