A LETTER written by a teacher at Nigel Farage’s high school reveals concerns that the Ukip leader was racist or fascist began when he was just a teenager.
The letter, uncovered by Channel 4 News and written in June 1981 by a young English teacher named Chloe Deakin, begged Dulwich College’s head teacher not to allow Farage to become a school prefect due to the boy’s fascist tendencies.
The letter says that at a meeting to discuss the school’s new prefects one teacher described Farage as "a fascist”. Deakin noted that there was "considerable reaction" to Farage’s proposed prefecture from a number of teachers who thought the boy was "racist" and "fascist" or "neo-fascist".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The letter says: "Another colleague, who teaches the boy, described his publicly professed racist and neo-fascist views; and he cited a particular incident in which Farage was so offensive to a boy in his set, that he had to be removed from the lesson. This master stated his view that this behaviour was precisely why the boy should not be made a prefect”.
The letter also said that while he was at cadet camp, Farage and a number of other cadets had marched through a quiet Sussex village late at night singing Hitler-youth songs.
The letter has come to light just as Ukip announced it would launch a new campaign to tackle concerns that the party is racist. A new election campaign, launching this week, will feature black and ethnic minority candidates, the Huffington Post reports.
A recent poll by YouGov found that more than a quarter of respondents felt that Ukip was a party with "racist views" and "many racist members".
Channel 4’s political correspondent Michael Crick put the high school fascism accusations to Farage. The MEP replied: “I did say things that would offend deeply”, but “any accusation I was ever involved in far right politics is utterly untrue."
Ukip will hold its annual conference at Central Hall, Westminster on Friday and Saturday this week.
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: September 14, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
‘It’s Nigel Farage setting the agenda’Instant Opinion Your digest of analysis from the British and international press
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
