Starmer calls on Farage to explain racism allegations from his schooldays
Nigel Farage denies claims of racist behaviour during his days at a top public school and could take legal action over the allegations, his spokesman said.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called on Mr Farage to explain himself over the claims about his behaviour while at Dulwich College as a teenager.
A spokesman for the Reform UK leader said he was not going to sue over the claims “at this stage” but asked if that was an option being kept open, he said: “Potentially, yes.”
The Guardian’s report was based on allegations from more than a dozen school contemporaries of Mr Farage, 61, who recount incidents of deeply offensive behaviour throughout his teenage years.
Mr Farage’s spokesman said: “These allegations date back 45 years, and I think that at any point in time – when Nigel was leader of Ukip, when he stood in the 2010 general election, the 2015 general election, during Brexit, maybe in the 2019 general election – you’d have to ask yourself, why this hasn’t come up before.”
He added: “Nigel is very clear, there’s no primary evidence.”
Mr Farage was “probably mischievous” at school but denies the allegations made in the Guardian, the spokesman said.
Among those making allegations in the Guardian was the Bafta and Emmy-award winning director Peter Ettedgui, 61, who claimed to have been verbally abused by Farage repeatedly as a 13 and 14-year-old.
“He would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’, or: ‘Gas them,’ sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers,” Mr Ettedgui claimed of his experience of sharing a class with Mr Farage.
‘Racist comments’
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir responded to a question from Reform’s Lee Anderson, who was next to Mr Farage in the Commons, by saying: “Last week his leader said he didn’t have time to condemn the racist comments of his fellow MP (Sarah Pochin).
“He also said he didn’t have time to condemn his party calling children in care ‘evil’.
“I wonder if he could ask his leader next door to him whether he’s got time for his explanation for the stories in today’s papers?”
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Mr Farage was approached for comment. He did not respond. Well, that’s the usual outcome anyway. How many times has that happened here in NC when Reformees are asked? When they’re offered free speech, they don’t take it up.
Tom Brown hater’s schooldays, Fat Shanks and Farage, now one of his old teachers has mellowed since we last dined together, although he did believe in a broad church and one going back years. He is a most engaging and enlightened of fellows but he can only be wrong here, sadly, with the moated one and his nearest we could be in trouble. A nation of sanctuary in need of sanctuary…Do unto others as you would have them do…
Does nobody brief the PM on anything without the ginger oracles’ say so…
He said sod all about Pochin, lets remember part of what she said “It drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of asian people”.
Didn’t pull up Kruger on his LGBQT comments.
30p demeaning disabled people.
Tried for two years to get race hate riots going using un verified accounts as facts.
Reform does what it says on the tin, more and more people are being uncovered for their hateful comments, they have a type.