Nigel Farage has claimed teachers would go on strike within weeks of a Reform UK election win, and accused them of “poisoning our kids” by telling them that black children are victims and white children oppressors.
The Reform UK leader set out his view on British schools in an event for a private US Christian college in Michigan, claiming the “Marxist left” was “now in control of our education system”.
“I’m anticipating a teachers’ strike very quickly after winning the next general election,” he said during a question and answer session at the event last month.
“They are poisoning our kids. They are telling them to be ashamed of their country. They are telling little Johnny, who’s eight, who is black, that he is a victim and little Oliver, who is white, who is eight, that he is an oppressor. They are dividing us, not uniting us. They are feeding this negative culture in.”
In response to Farage’s claims, Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, said the idea the education system was controlled by Marxists was “nonsense”. He pointed out any strikes have to be on the grounds of terms and conditions for teachers, and questioned whether Reform would attack these immediately when entering government.
“Farage has made his political career out of dog-whistle politics and now, like Trump, he is lining up teachers and their unions for a fight,” Kebede said.
“I think that’s grossly irresponsible. I don’t – and nor does my union, and nor does the teaching profession – push critical race theory as he’s suggesting … Should he become prime minister he would sell out our public services, including education … and he would be a disaster for education and children.”
Reform, which is leading the polls by about 10 points, has not set out much detail on a proposed education policy and does not appear to have appointed an education spokesperson.
However, Farage’s remarks at the Hillsdale College event suggested the party would overhaul the system and the curriculum. He said: “We have got a massive job to do with education – absolutely herculean. And, by the way, we can’t do it in six months or a year; it will take us years, years to turn this around.”
He said gen Z was more open to critical thinking, but millennials were “absolutely hopeless”.
Paying tribute to Charlie Kirk, the rightwing activist who conducted debates on US college campuses and who was murdered last month, Farage said: “All I want education to do is teach critical thinking – to teach people there are two points of view and you make up your own mind as opposed to what’s happening now and, in too many cases, saying one is virtuous and one is evil. It’s a massive job in both Britain and America.”
Reform has previously clashed with the NEU, the UK’s largest teaching union, after Kebede called the party “far right and racist” and dismissed Farage as “a poundshop Donald Trump”.
Farage has accused Kebede of being a “a self-declared Marxist … someone who is absolutely determined that our children should be poisoned at school, their minds should be poisoned about everything to do with this country” and has argued the union is trying to indoctrinate teenagers against Reform.
Almost one million people work in schools in the UK, about half of whom are teachers with the others teaching assistants and support staff. The NEU has about 450,000 members.
National strikes over teacher pay and conditions in 2023 caused widespread disruption in schools and millions of days of lost learning for children.
At the US event, the Reform leader also pledged to help spread the online educational material of Hillsdale College in the UK. He said organisations like Hillsdale were “part of the fightback”, adding that: “I mean this. I will help Hillsdale in the United Kingdom garner hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of young people to your online courses. I make that commitment tonight to you here in this very hall and I’ll do that.”
Hillsdale, a small private Christian college, offers free courses. Its website says: “A scientific, literary, theological, political, and moral education is necessary for personal happiness and to perpetuate the blessings of civil and religious liberty. Hillsdale College furnishes these beautiful courses for free to all who wish to learn and to enjoy those blessings.”
Reform did not reply to a request for comment.
The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.
If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.
Secure Messaging in the Guardian app
The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.
If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select ‘Secure Messaging’.
SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post
If you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.
Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.
