I’ll never forget the look of hatred Nigel Farage had for me at school, simply for existing

The Reform UK leader doubts people can recall their abuse from years ago. I’ve never forgotten his – it felt malicious

• Former Dulwich pupil says Farage told him: ‘That’s the way back to Africa’

For someone who has waited so long – umming and erring, should I or shouldn’t I – about whether to speak out, it became abundantly clear on Thursday what I had to do. There was Nigel Farage holding a press conference on live television and responding to racism allegations from his teenage years by lambasting the BBC and ITV for giving airtime in the 1970s to the comedian Bernard Manning and the fictional character of Alf Garnett. As a Christian, I could not help but see it as the most amazingly disingenuous example of the phrase “let he without sin cast the first stone”. It was also the final straw.

My late parents were born in Nigeria and came to the UK in the 1950s. For the Windrush generation, I am told it was a ship ride of many days. My parents came to serve, as is so typical of immigrants from the Commonwealth at the time. My mum had to undergo “further” training as a nurse despite having already practised as a nurse in Nigeria, while my dad qualified as an osteopath. They both in effect came over here to participate in creating a healthy nation, whether via the NHS or in a private capacity.

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