51³Ô¹ÏÍø

ENGLAND: EXT Reporter approaches Nigel Farage in street and asks if he would like to see the letter SOT Nigel Farage MEP (UK Independence Party Leader) SOT - I've seen it before / well not for 30 years - yes of course I said some ridiculous things Q: racist things? Farage SOT - not necessarily racist things / it depends how you define it / you've got to remember that ever since 1968, up until the last couple of years, we've not been able, in this country to intelligently discuss immigration, integration / it's all been a buried subject / that's happened through academia, politics and the media Q: letter cites an example of you taunting someone in class and having to be excluded? Farage SOT - I was excluded from class dozens of times over the years for all sorts of reasons Q: for racist comments? Farage SOT - No, I don't accept that Q: former pupils remember you making racist comments? Farage SOT - I might have wound some of them up too / all through the 1970s and 80s I would counter any perceived wisdom on any subject quite deliberately / I wasn't alone in doing that, it was a very political school / we had boys who were members of left wing organisations and also members of hard right organisations Q: accusation of marching through Sussex village singing Hitler youth songs? Farage SOT - I don't even know the words / none of this loses anything in the telling Q: how would a story like that emerge? Farage SOT - was small group of teaching staff who wanted to abolish the CCF / they even wanted to abolish wearing poppies on remembrance day / people often believe what they want to believe / that is complete baloney / was I a difficult, bolshie teenager who pushed boundaries of debate further than I ought to have done - yes / have I, to some extent, in politics, continued to challenge some things that continue to be unchallengable - yes / have I ever been a member of an extreme organisation left or right - no Q...