Right wing think tank Civitas has called on supporters to help fund a new independent primary school that it is establishing to address the "meltdown" in British culture.

Former immigration minister Barbara Roche said she was "astonished" that a body publishing anti-immigration pamphlets could run a school.

"Are schools going to be established that will attack our multiracial, multicultural society?" she asked.

But Robert Whelan of Civitas said his concerns were about the decline of teaching about historical events and economic and political institutions.

"There is a gross ignorance of our history and traditions and that's what we are going to teach these children about," he said.