London
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Andrew Field recalls how his school in south London used to hand out a little blue book listing all the students enrolled that year. He says one boy used to go through the book to count how many children had the common English surname Smith, and how many had the Indian surname Patel.
“When there were more Patels than Smiths… he made a public ceremony of burning that school roll in protest,” Field told CNN.
That former student — remembered by Field as a “pompous, isolated loner” who enjoyed “strutting about” in school uniform — grew up to become arguably the most influential politician in Britain this century: right-wing populist Nigel Farage. After…
