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".
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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.