By Mathew Carr*

Like President Donald Trump … his mate Nigel Farage reckons rules don’t apply to him.

This bad political culture needs to change.

Farage seems to be spending well more than £180,050 on this by-election…the limit for each candidate. It needs to be investigated by Essex Police and the Electoral Commission. He appears to have an army of workers.

Farage has transported 30 leaders from around the country to help with canvassing, according to a person familiar with the situation.

His own teacher said he was fascist.

The source for the specific “fascist tendencies” comment comes primarily from Nigel Farage himself.

He has recounted the story repeatedly in interviews, documentaries, and his own autobiography.

*With DeepSeek:

Here are the key details and where the accounts come from:

1. The Primary Source: His Autobiography
   Farage tells the story in his 2010 autobiography, Fighting Bull. He writes that his housemaster at Dulwich College, a man named Chris “Chalky” White, refused to support his application to a military academy. According to Farage, his housemaster’s report said he had “a complete lack of respect for authority, a cavalier attitude and fascist tendencies.” In other words he was not leadership material.
2. The Alleged Incident That Sparked It
   Farage links the comment to his time in the Combined Cadet Force. He says that as a sergeant, he was told to march his platoon around the school grounds but was explicitly ordered to stay off the pristine cricket square. In an act of deliberate defiance, he marched his troops directly across the middle of the pitch. He believes this flagrant disrespect for the rules and his “over-enthusiastic” leadership style as a cadet sergeant led directly to the “fascist tendencies” remark in his report.
3. Teacher’s Account Differs
   In a 2013 profile, The Spectator magazine tracked down the teacher, Chris White. While White didn’t deny the words were used, he insisted the cricket pitch story had been blown out of proportion and that the comment was essentially a flippant joke, not a formal accusation. He said he had no recollection of writing it in an official report and that it was more likely an offhand, sarcastic remark to young Farage. He also stated that Farage was simply not “officer material” due to a general lack of discipline and respect.

So, in short, there’s no official document; the entire story rests on Farage’s public telling of it and the teacher’s later, somewhat dismissive, confirmation that the phrase was probably used in jest.

Nonetheless, he hardly deserves to have the chance to become an MP again and lead the nation, especially after “his” Brexit has cost the country more than £750b in lost GDP in the past 10 years, including £250b in lost government revenue.

According to his own accounts and biographies, Nigel Farage reached the rank of Sergeant in the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) at Dulwich College.

A couple of interesting points related to this:

· He has credited his “leadership skills” to it. Farage often says his time as a cadet sergeant taught him how to command a room and lead people, skills he obviously used later in politics.

I’m trying to stop the warmongering and that is less likely with Farage in charge, I reckon.

· But he was denied officer training. He has claimed that he wanted to become an officer in the regular army after school, but his teachers refused to give him a reference. They reportedly told him he had those “fascist tendencies” I mentioned above—an accusation he says stemmed from him marching his cadet platoon across that school cricket pitch, which was strictly out of bounds.

So yes, he was a sergeant, and the cadet experience played an interesting role in his own personal story.

The most famous, consistent version he gives in interviews and his autobiography is a deliberately provocative parody of a military command.

According to Farage, as he marched his cadet platoon towards the hallowed and strictly out-of-bounds cricket square, he gave the loud, clear order:

“By the right, quick march… on to the hallowed turf!”

The key point, which he always emphasises, is that he specifically used the phrase “hallowed turf” as a sarcastic dig at the school’s reverence for the pitch. He was making a show of defying the ultimate school rule in front of his peers.

He won’t change and has shown no contrition that I’ve seen.

There are allegations and reported racist incidents by Farage, but no conclusive proof or single “smoking gun” quote that has been universally verified. The claims come from a few different sources and are generally contested.

Here’s what’s alleged:

1. The “Hitler Youth” Marching Song
   This is the most specific and repeated allegation. A former classmate, journalist Joe Murphy, wrote in The Evening Standard in 2013 that he witnessed Farage marching his cadet platoon while they chanted a song with the lyrics “Gas ’em all, gas ’em all” to the tune of “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag.”

However, Murphy also wrote that he couldn’t remember if the next line was explicitly racist.

He recalled it possibly being about “the wogs” or a rival school house, but the exact wording was hazy.

Farage has dismissed this, saying Murphy was not in his platoon and that the cadets would sing “ridiculous, un-PC” songs generally, but denies a specific racist chant.

2. The “Fascist Tendencies” Comment (Again)
   As we discussed, his teacher wrote or told him he had “fascist tendencies.” While not an allegation of a specific racist act, this comment by an authority figure at the school is often cited in this context. The teacher himself later said it was a flippant joke about Farage’s bossy, authoritarian style in the cadets, not an observation about racial views.
3. General Allegations by a Former Teacher
   In 2014, a former Dulwich teacher named Chloe Deakin told The Guardian that Farage was known for “incredibly racist” views and that staff would discuss his “vile racist comments” in the staff room. Crucially, she did not provide a single specific quote. Farage strongly denied this, calling it “scuttlebutt” from a teacher who never taught him.

So, to sum up: the only person claiming a specific, quasi-racist chant admits he can’t remember the exact words, and the other most serious allegations lack any verbatim quotes. Farage’s detractors see a pattern of evidence, while his defenders say it’s all based on unverified, decades-old gossip.

Notes

–Everyone has biases and favors their clan. Too much emphasis is being put on racism in the public narrative, I reckon.

–Is White alive? Let me know at mathew@carrzee.net if you know how to get in touch with him.

· Obituaries and death notices – Try searching “Chris White Dulwich College obituary” or “Christopher White teacher obituary” on Google. The Times, The Daily Telegraph, or The Old Alleynian (Dulwich College’s alumni publication) would be the most likely places.
· Dulwich College archives or alumni news – The school’s website and its alumni association (Alleyn Club) sometimes publish memorial pages or updates on former staff. Searching “Chris White housemaster Dulwich College died” might also surface relevant results.
· Social media and forums – Alumni groups on Facebook or LinkedIn sometimes post updates about retired teachers. You could check if any Dulwich College alumni forums mention him.
· Farage-related biographies and articles – Any major profile of Farage written after 2013 would likely note if White had passed away by the time of writing.

Farage….always fighting you, Clacton folks….he is pretending to be on your side

—Gemini:

In a UK parliamentary by-election (such as Clacton), the statutory candidate spending limit of £180,050 is governed under the Representation of the People Act 1983 (RPA). Because exceeding candidate spending limits is a criminal offense (“illegal practice”) rather than a civil breach, enforcement is divided across several authorities:

1. Receiving & Auditing Returns: The Local Returning Officer

• Who: The Acting Returning Officer (for Clacton, based at Tendring District Council).
• Role: Candidates and their election agents must submit detailed itemized spending returns and declarations to the Returning Officer following polling day. The Returning Officer holds these records and makes them available for public inspection.

2. Criminal Investigation: Local Police Force

• Who: Essex Police (with support from specialist bodies like the Metropolitan Police Special Enquiry Team or National Crime Agency if multi-area coordination is required).
• Role: If allegations arise that a candidate or agent knowingly exceeded the £180,000 limit or submitted false returns, the local police force investigates the matter as a criminal offense under the RPA 1983.

3. Prosecution: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)

• Who: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
• Role: If police investigations yield sufficient evidence, the CPS determines whether it is in the public interest to bring formal criminal charges against the candidate, election agent, or both.

4. Judicial Enforcement & Penalties: The Courts

• Who: Criminal Courts (Magistrates’ or Crown Court) and the Election Court.
• Role:
  • Criminal Sanctions: Courts can impose unlimited fines and disqualify guilty individuals from holding public or elective office for up to three years.
  • Voiding an Election: An Election Court (consisting of High Court judges) can hear an election petition and declare a candidate’s election void if illegal spending practices affected the outcome.

Key Distinction: Electoral Commission vs. Candidate Rules

While The Electoral Commission is the national elections watchdog, its direct regulatory and civil fining powers apply to national political party spending and registered non-party campaigners under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA).

If national party spending (e.g., central party campaign buses or national staff accommodation) is improperly used to boost an individual by-election candidate without being declared against that candidate’s £180,000 limit, the Electoral Commission can investigate the political party, while the police investigate the individual candidate and agent.