A teacher at an English school was accused of being a risk to children and referred to the Government’s anti-terrorism program after showing videos of Donald Trump to his US politics class.
The teacher, who is 50, told The Telegraph he was “like a terrorist” after showing the footage, including one of Mr Trump’s inauguration, to A-level students.
Henley College, a sixth-form in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, with more than 2,000 students, reported the policy lecturer to the local authority for safeguarding children, which concluded a referral to Prevent, the Government’s counter-terrorism programme, was a “priority”.
Donald Trump’s inauguration was featured in one of the videos the teacher showed his class – Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The teacher was accused of causing his A-level students, aged 17 and 18, “emotional harm”. In one document, seen by The Telegraph, local child protection officials suggested that viewing the videos could amount to a “hate crime”.
The extraordinary demands led the teacher, who qualified for the first time in the mid-nineties, to start a complaints procedure against the college. In a negotiated settlement, he gave him a £2,000 payout after effectively forcing him to resign from his £44,000-a-year post.
His case is the latest to be uncovered by The Telegraph in which it appears child protection laws have been used to try to ban adults with alleged right-wing views from working with children.
The Free Speech Union believes that laws, intended to protect children from murderers and rapists, are being misused to go after adults with unfashionable opinions. She said that the teacher’s case was a clear example of child safeguarding protocols “that are armed to silence someone for political reasons”.
The teacher, who does not wish to be identified, said: “They likened me to a terrorist. It was completely upsetting. It’s dystopian, like something out of a George Orwell novel.”
Documents seen by The Telegraph show how Henley College began its investigations in January 2025 after complaints were made by two of the lecturer’s students. He was accused of “biased” and “off topic” teaching.
The college said in an official email dated January 28 that it was alleged “to have shown your students videos of Donald Trump, his campaign, propaganda and other videos that are not related to what is being taught”.
The college then claimed that one of the videos had “made one of the students feel quite uncomfortable”.
The teacher said: “It was just scary; mind-blowing. We were discussing the US election, Trump had just won and I showed a few videos from the Trump campaign. The next thing, I was accused of bias. One of the students said they were emotionally disturbed and claimed they were having nightmares.”
Asked if he was a far-Right extremist, the teacher, a practicing Catholic who admits to being a Republican supporter but is adamant that his views are mainstream, said: “I’m not an extremist.”
He accused the college of “complete Leftist bias”, adding: “They will not tolerate anything about Donald Trump.”
Donald Trump at his inauguration. The teacher said the college ‘will not tolerate anything about Donald Trump’ – Greg Nash/Getty Images
The college referred the case to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), the officer charged with investigating safeguarding concerns.
The LADO report, dated May 22, said the teacher’s views “could be perceived as radical” and that Henley College “should complete a Prevent referral”.
She went on to say: “There is concern that this behavior may cause harm to children, there may be a criminal offense from the views which may constitute a hate crime and it is possible that the promotion of his views may be radicalisation.”
Prevention is the Government’s strategy to try to tackle terrorism by intervening where concerns are raised about radicalization in schools and elsewhere.
The students alleged that the teaching was ‘biased and off-topic’
The teacher said: “I felt completely insulted by the suggestion that I was a danger to children. It impacted on my mental health. I had to see a counsellor. It ruined my physical health. It was absolutely terrifying. It really overwhelmed me.”
He received a formal letter in April saying he was accused of misconduct. His alleged offense was that he caused “emotional harm… to your students as a result of you sharing inappropriate content (especially videos) with them and you lacked balance when presenting political views with an emphasis on Right-wing, potentially extremist views”.
The letter cited allegations from students that “your teaching is biased and off-topic to the point that it has become a distraction from what the students are supposed to be learning”.
Among the videos was a music video called Daddy’s Home, made by Roseanne Barr, the American comedian and supporter of Trump, and Tom MacDonald, a Canadian artist called Maga Rapper. The video has had 7.8 million views on YouTube and was suggested to the teacher by one of his students.
The teacher remains concerned that the video – set against a background of cheering Maga fans – could possibly cause a student to become “emotionally disturbed”.
Scenes from the video Daddy’s Home made by Roseanne Barr and a Canadian rapper in tribute to Mr. Trump and shown by the teacher to his class – YouTube
YouTube
He says he is convinced he was targeted by a group of students after he took over their politics class in early September 2024. The previous year he had taught business studies at the college and was praised for his work, but switched to politics to help with staff shortages.
The teacher, now working as a supply teacher while seeking full-time tenure, has extensive family ties to the United States but insists his Republican views are not extreme, pointing out that Mr Trump won the electoral college in a convincing manner as well as the popular vote.
He was teaching students classes on politics and propaganda, and says he also showed them videos of Kamala Harris. He had shown about five videos related to Trump before the complaint was made.
In April 2025, he wrote to JD Vance, the vice-president of the United States, complaining that his was “a shocking case of the imposition of communist-style silencing of opinions and narratives against that imposed by the intolerant extreme Left”, adding: “My career is at risk because of this shocking mistreatment at the hands of their party agenda and the individuals that the Republic of the United States clearly and clearly disagree or have different perspectives and opinions.” He has no idea if the letter ever reached Mr. Vance.
‘Bullied and harassed’
He contacted the Free Speech Union (FSU) for help fighting the “misconduct” claim and the ongoing disciplinary investigation. He was eventually given a written warning
The FSU, which provides legal assistance for members, stated in its defense that he was a victim of “bullying and harassment”, and had also been accused of showing a “genocide video” to children. He pointed out that the video was part of a set of teaching materials provided by the Holocaust Education Trust.
Lord Young, the director of the FSU and a Tory peer, said: “The United States is our closest ally and Donald Trump is its democratically elected leader. Showing one of his election ads to a class of politics students, particularly alongside one from Kamala Harris, does not make you a risk to children.
“There is a clear case of safeguard protocols being rigged to silence someone for political reasons.”
Henley College, which attracts students from Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, said: “Henley College does not comment on individual allegations or ongoing investigations.
“We are committed to safeguarding the wellbeing of all our students and staff, and follow statutory safeguarding procedures in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025.
“Allegations are handled with due care, in accordance with statutory guidance, with appropriate support provided to all involved.”