A mother who tried to ban her ex-husband from taking their children to Ukip events has claimed they were being brainwashed with racist and homophobic views.

She feared he was ‘abusing their childhood’ by ‘pumping them full’ of the party’s political beliefs.

Some ‘99.9 per cent of parents’ would recognise that children should not be involved in political activities, she claimed. Her allegations emerged after a judge lifted a ban on the father, who is standing as a Ukip candidate, from involving the children in rallies.

A mother who tried to ban her ex-husband (pictured) from taking their children to Ukip events has claimed they were being brainwashed with racist and homophobic views

At an appeal, the judge found there was insufficient evidence that the youngsters were at risk of ‘emotional harm’ because of potentially hostile reactions to the party from the public.

But in court documents, the mother – who is not a member of a political party – feared her ex-husband’s political views were ‘influencing the children’, saying the older child in particular ‘can be racist and homophobic’.

A report said the father had enlisted the support of his children to distribute Ukip leaflets when they spent time with him. But their mother said it was ‘mentally challenging’ and ‘confusing’ for the children to encounter opposition to Ukip.

One had a leaflet ripped up in their face, while an older child had an egg thrown at them while campaigning with their father, it was claimed. She said the court had so far ‘failed to protect certain of the children from brainwashing’ as one is a member of Ukip’s youth wing and another is intent on joining.

She told how one of her children had gone into school and told classmates that they had been to a Ukip garden party at the weekend. ‘The other kids go, “Hey, what?” they have no idea what they are talking about,’ she said.

‘They shouldn’t know what they are talking about because none of them at that age should know anything to do with politics.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage surrounded by supporters at the local election results in South Ockenden May 2014, where there were significant gains for the party (file picture)

‘Isn’t that to do with abusing their childhood if they’re being pumped full of whatever political party?’ But the father said the child had been ‘exceedingly amused’ to have an egg land ‘somewhere near’ their feet. He added that the child was ‘very keen’ on campaigning for the party and ‘gets a lot out of it’.

The father also accused his ex-wife of herself ‘indoctrinating’ the children. At the appeal, heard at a court in the South of England on Friday, a judge overturned the ban imposed during a custody battle at a family court, saying the order was ‘invasive’ of the ‘rights of the father’.

The judge said the candidate had not been given advance notice that his membership of Ukip would be raised as an issue or an order made about it.

Lifting the ban, the judge said the case should be brought back to court for a new hearing if the parents still cannot reach an agreement. The father, who cannot be named, said last night: ‘This is a victory. People are fed of up of being told how they are supposed to think.’