Teacher referred to counter terror programme for showing videos of President Trump

A FORMER teacher at The Henley College has been referred to the Government’s counter-terrorism programme for showing videos of President Trump in class.

The politics teacher, who is in his fifties and wishes to remain anonymous, was reported to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) by the college due to safeguarding concerns.

In the report, the official in charge instructed the college to prioritise completing a Prevent referral.

Prevent is the Government’s strategy which aims to stop individuals from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

An investigation into the teacher causing “emotional harm” to his A level students began in January last year, following complaints made by two students who accused his teaching of being “biased”.

The teacher denied this. He said: “The idea of bias is just ridiculous.

“Covering US politics, one naturally had to cover the US election as the world’s major superpower, possibly our greatest ally economically, militarily and historically. It would be like trying to teach maths without using numbers.” It has been alleged that he showed the class videos of Donald Trump that were unrelated to what was being taught.

He was also accused of making “one of the students feel quite uncomfortable” after showing a music video titled Daddy’s Home by Tom MacDonald and Roseanne Barr, which is set to a backdrop of cheering Maga supporters and was suggested by one of his pupils.

The report said: “The safeguarding concern is that the teacher has some extreme views and is exposing his students to have these views and that the videos being shown in class could be perceived as radical.”

The teacher said: “I have no interest in rap, not at my age, it isn’t my cup of tea. It simply shows Maga fans waving flags in the background. It was tongue-in-cheek and in good humour, shown during break time but the college seemed to think that was inappropriate.”

The teacher had taken over the class in September 2024 and had previously taught business studies at the college. He believes child protection law and safeguarding protocols have been “weaponised” by the college to promote a particular political agenda and silence dissenting views.

“It felt like a witch hunt,” he said. “I feel like I’m being persecuted. I used to be a quite charismatic and energetic type of teacher but that has been drained from me. It has caused me reputational and professional damage.

“It’s Dystopia-on-Thames rather than Henley-on-Thames because it’s incredible that something like this could take place in a supposedly civilised environment such as Henley.”

The teacher admits to being a Republican supporter but said: “My political views are anything but [extreme].”

The investigation prompted him to begin a grievance procedure against the college. It gave him a £2,000 pay-off after effectively forcing him to resign from his £44,000-a-year position.

He also contacted the Free Speech Union (FSU) for assistance in fighting the misconduct claim and the ongoing disciplinary investigation. He was given a
written warning. “I felt completely ostracised,” he said. “I’ve been teaching since the Nineties on a number of different subjects and I have never expressed my own political views in class.”

The FSU, which provides legal assistance for members, claimed he was a victim of “bullying and harassment”.

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 adverts to a class of politics students, particularly alongside one of Kamala Harris’s, does not make you a risk to children.”

A statement from The Henley College said: “We do 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.”