Farage says he's 'never directly racially abused anybody' after school racism claims

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has insisted he has "never specifically abused anyone" following protests from 20 former school contemporaries.

Mr Farage was the subject of a Guardian investigation in which former classmates at Dulwich College alleged he made racist and antisemitic remarks to them. Speaking directly to a journalist about the allegations for the first time, Mr Farage, 61, was asked if he had targeted individuals based on "who they are or what they are." He replied: "No."

Following the sentencing of former Welsh Reform UK leader Nathan Gill for taking pro-Russian bribes, Mr Farage also ruled out an internal investigation into his own party.

School Allegations

The allegations from his school days include claims that he joked about gas chambers and, while a prefect, put another pupil in detention because of the colour of their skin.

When asked about these claims, Mr Farage replied: "I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter in a playground... seen in the modern light of day in some manner. [But] I've never specifically abused anyone."

He denied being part of a "militant group" or engaging in "direct, unpleasant personal harassment" or "real abuse," attributing friction to "political differences" with some of his classmates.

When asked categorically if he had racially abused fellow students, Mr Farage said: "I would never, ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way."

The interviewer pressed him, asking if he perhaps meant that he hadn't intended to be hurtful or racist, even if others felt he was. Mr Farage replied: "I hope not."

When asked whether he had said things at school that people might have objected to, he replied: "Without a shadow of a doubt. And without a shadow of a doubt, I'll say things tonight on this stage that some people will object to... In some ways, that is actually what open free speech is all about. People don't like certain things."

When asked if he would apologise to the people who claimed he had singled them out, Mr Farage answered: "I'm not sorry, because I don't think I did something that specifically hurt anyone."

The Nathan Gill Scandal

Mr Farage, an MEP from 1999 to 2020, was also asked about his former colleague Nathan Gill. Mr Gill was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years in prison last Friday after admitting to taking bribes to give pro-Russian interviews and statements while an MEP.

Gill became a UKIP MEP in 2014, joined Reform UK in 2020, and briefly served as the leader of Reform Wales in 2021 before failing to be re-elected shortly afterwards.

Speaking at a Reform UK rally in Llandudno, North Wales, Mr Farage addressed the issue.

"Taking bribes is of course an absolute and complete disgrace," he said. "We condemn his conduct and disown him entirely."

In a separate interview, Mr Farage rejected calls to look into other potential Russian links within his organisation. "No, I'm not a police force, I haven't got the funds," he said, adding that there should be a wider MI5 probe into Russian and Chinese meddling in British politics.

Mr Farage said he was as confident "as I can be" that no one else in Reform, past or present, had done similar things to the former Welsh leader, referring to the issue as a "very minor embarrassment for Reform."

"I'm very surprised about Gill—he was in UKIP for a long time, but his time in Reform was short," he said. "I've had no contact with him, and no one in my leadership team has expressed any concern [about] him."

'The Mask Has Slipped'

Responding to the allegations regarding Mr Farage's schooldays, Lord Mike Katz, a Labour peer and former Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, said the Reform leader's refusal to deny the remarks was unbecoming of someone who wants to be Prime Minister.

"The British people deserve a straight answer. It seems that the mask has slipped," Lord Katz said.

"Just when you thought Nigel Farage couldn't sink any lower, he's trying to say that abhorrent racial remarks, including vile antisemitic insults, don't [matter]. He seems to believe that you can racially abuse people without it being hurtful or insulting. Let's be crystal clear: you can't. Failure to [apologise] would be yet more proof that Farage is clearly unfit for office."