Tensions were high at an anti-racism rally in Lincoln on Wednesday night as far right supporters targeted the meeting.

The Lincoln Against Racism and Fascism (LARF) campaign group hosted the ‘Rally Against Racism’ meeting at the Lincoln Labour Club on Newland on January 15, ahead of the planned ‘March Against Racism’ on January 18 – at the same time as the East Anglian Patriots’ second anti-mosque protest.

In the hours before the meeting, the venue was plastered with National Front stickers, which have now been removed.

Around 20 people attended the meeting, which was briefly interrupted by shouting from outside the building.

Two men, wearing Union Jack hats, were asked to leave after they demanded entry, saying: “We’re not here to throw punches, even though some people wanted to come and smash them to bits. It’s all going to come to a head on Saturday.” The men were removed by police.

LARF spokesperson Nick Parker said: “The attempt to delay the proceedings and intimidate us should not be ignored. We will not be intimidated into remaining silent when the far-right organises in our communities, and we won’t ignore their threat and hope they’ll go away.

“We’re calling for everyone to come out onto the streets and join us on Saturday to mobilise against the racism and division that the far-right seeks to spread.”

Steve Score, an anti-racism activist from Leicester, made a guest speech at the rally. He said: “Groups like the East Anglian Patriots cannot be just ignored and hoped to go away. I hope that, at the very least, the demonstration on Saturday shows that there is opposition to these groups coming to Lincoln to try and stir things up.”

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The number of children seeking help for racist bullying increased sharply last year, as campaigners warn that the heated public debate about immigration is souring race relations in the classroom.

More than 1,400 children and young people contacted ChildLine for counselling about racist bullying in 2013, up 69 per cent on the previous 12 months. Islamophobia is a particular issue in schools, according to the charity, with young Muslims reporting that they are being called “terrorists” and “bombers” by classmates.

Children who have poor English or a strong accent are often called “freshies” – an abusive term that highlights their struggle to fit in.

The rise in children needing help for xenophobic bullying coincides with rising political hostility to immigration – especially in the lead-up to this month’s lifting of restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians entering the UK. In 2011, just 802 children approached the charity seeking help for racist bullying.

Sue Minto, head of ChildLine, said: “There’s so much more of a focus in the news at the moment about immigrants… it’s a real discussion topic and children aren’t immune to the conversations that happen around them. Some children are being told, even if they’re UK born, to pack your bags and go back where you belong. It is very worrying, it’s a big increase. This past year, it really seems to be something children and young people are suffering with.”

Overall, the number of children needing support for bullying of any kind was up 8 per cent between 2012 and 2013, according to ChildLine.

The charity’s report found that the majority of the racist bullying affecting children was happening at school and many of those calling ChildLine for counselling say teachers ignore the situation or make it worse with clumsy interventions.

James Kingett, of the charity Show Racism The Red Card (SRTRC) which seeks to combat racism, said: “We work with around 50,000 young people every year and issues around Islamophobia have been very prevalent over the past 12 to 18 months. That idea that all Muslims are terrorists or bombers is a particular problem. We’re getting that from kids with no Muslim classmates through to those in diverse schools with many Muslims.”

Mr Kingett added: “We are doing work on the impact of far-right groups such as the English Defence League on children’s attitudes. Often children are picking up language at home and from parents and taking that to be fact. The rhetoric at the moment around immigration is incredibly pervasive. The prominence of the immigration debate may have had a knock-on effect, filtering down in classrooms.”

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