Jarrow March - Impact and Aftermath

Impact and Aftermath

The marchers arrived in London on 31 October, almost a month after leaving. The total number of signatures on the petition was 11,000, and it was handed into Parliament by Wilkinson. The Prime Minister of the day, Stanley Baldwin, refused to see any of the marchers' representatives, claiming it would set a dangerous precedent. The marchers generally received sympathy, though no proposal was made to help Jarrow, despite the petition being accepted in the House of Commons — with a single simple sentence of announcement, after which the House of Commons went back to their previous business. The march was also discussed at Prime Minister's Questions in the British House of Commons on 5 November 1936.

It was not until two years after the Jarrow March, in 1938, that a ship breaking yard and engineering works were established in Jarrow. The next year a steelworks was established. However the depression continued in Jarrow until after the beginning of World War II in September 1939, when industrial production increased due to the nation's need for re-armament.

The Jarrow March is fondly remembered by those on the left in British politics as a landmark in the history of labour movement, even though the Labour Party of the day opposed it, and the Trades Union Congress circularised Trades Councils advising them not to help the marchers.

The last surviving member of the march, Cornelius Whalen, died on 14 September 2003, at 93.

In 2008, Go North East made a tribute bus called the Crusader 27/27A as an honour. From June 2010 the 27A was withdrawn and replaced by the 27 and runs up to every 10 mins between Newcastle and South Shields.