Farage's racism denials are dishonest, says ex-classmate

Former Nigel Farage's Jewish former classmate has told the BBC that the Reform UK leader is fundamentally dishonest by implying that former students who said they witnessed his bigotry are not telling the truth. Farage, who is now aged 61, had repeatedly told him Hitler was correct and gas them when they were students at Dulwich College in London, according to Peter Ettedgui. After allegations by former Dulwich College students, including Mr Ettedgui, that were first announced in The Guardian, Farage said on Monday that he had

never specifically abused anyone. Farage's assertion that those who had sparked questions about his past conduct were not telling the truth had left him

very angry," according to Mr Ettedgui.

Two former Dulwich College students who have backed up Mr Ettedgui's version of events have been interviewed by the BBC. Farage told GB News:

I categorically deny saying those things, to one individual, and, frankly, for the Guardian and the BBC, it shows how desperate they are. Farage said in a previous interview on Monday that he had certainly

misspoken in my life, in my younger days,he said. However, he insisted that he had notdirectly assaultedanyoneby putting it out on an individual based on who they are or what they are.

Well, after 49 years, they seem to have flawless recollection. I would say to you that there is a strong political component to this.

They were not telling the truth,

Farage said when confronted whether they were telling the lies again.

This is a man with authority and a lot of influence on this world,Mr Ettedgui said in Monday's BBC interview,This man has a huge influence on the country's course, for which, you know, hats off to him.

And he's being fundamentally dishonest in all that he says. So I'm upset and angry about it. Mr Ettedgui is one of more than a dozen former Dulwich College students who have alleged that Farage was racial. Mr Ettedgui, a student at Dulwich College who sat near the future Reform leader, says he can easily recall antisemitic abuse directed at him, something he had never seen before.

Farage was one of my school years, and knowing that I was Jewish, he said Hitler was correct and 'em', and that was often followed by a 'sss,' you know, kind of imitating the sound of escaping gas. That's my enduring memory of him, says the teacher, and the pattern of verbal abuse continued fairly often over the year.

And it was really vicious, it was definitely directed in a very personal way at me.

Farage's words had hit hard because his grandparents had left Nazi Germany and a significant portion of their family had perished in the Holocaust,Farage said.It wasn't the typical vaguely antisemitic banter you might have encountered in the school grounds at that time in the 1970s. It was much worse,he added.I think anyone who suffers any sort of violence, it's going to mark their lives,

Mr Ettedgui said when asked how he could be sure that his memory was correct.

I carry that memory with me. He also rebutted Farage's assertion that he was achildat the time of the alleged incidents.We were youths, and in several faiths, this is the time when you turn your gaze toward the adult world. The teen Farage, according to him, was very well-informed and had

a sense of history and politics even at that time. He denied charges that his allegations were part of a political smear campaign, saying he had

a tremendous desire

to speak out now because the prospect of Farage becoming Prime Minister was

repellent and troublingto him.Is Farage saying here that around 20 people on the record, who either experienced or witnessed this kind of violence, are lying? he asked.Is this some sort of ruse between us all? " says the narrator. Well, I can tell him right now that we haven't talked to each other. We haven't coordinated this in any way.

When asked by GB News, a channel that employs Farage as a host, whether Mr Ettedgui was fundamentally dishonest, he replied:

I believe I would have been promoted in the sixth year to be a prefect.

Do you think I'd have been a senior citizen of the school if they really believed,

the school knew and thought any of the information was correct?

Farage added:

His recollections are wrong. All the others appear to disagree with me politically, which is perhaps not a surprise.

Farage's suspected teenage bigotry were first raised 13 years ago by journalist Michael Crick, when he was a reporter for Channel 4 News. Reform UK said they were completely without fund when the Guardian revealed fresh allegations last week. Farage said in a tweet after Mr Ettedgui and other former students appeared on the BBC,

I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that had been published in the Guardian aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.

Isn't it interesting: I am possibly the most scrutinized figure in British politics, having worked in public life for 32 years.

Numerous books and thousands of stories have been published about me, but it is only now that my party is leading the polls that these allegations have come out.

We know that the Guardian intends to smear anyone who addresses the immigrant topic.

I have done more in my career to combat extremism and far-right politics in the United Kingdom than anyone else in the country,

I said from my time fighting the BNP right up to today. Many of the people pledging to be political opponents, according to him, "this is not the first time the struggling establishment has come after me, and it will not be the last.

Some former Dulwich College students say they are unaware of the picture that has been painted of Farage or allegations of bigotry against him. Patrick Neylan, who was a student at Farage College, told the BBC that there was some performing of songs that he would not be proud of right now.

I never saw Farage being openly racist and xelitis against any individual,

he said,

I'd be dissatisfied because I never thought of him as an overt racist.

Five former students who recall Farage's specifically attacking Peter Ettedgui will be interviewed by the BBC.

I remember him specifically talking about 'do go home, Hitler was right,' singing

Gas Them All,

and making all of Peter's vehemently antisemitic remarks directed straight at him, Jean-Pierre Li

He was positive his memories were accurate, and it

looks like yesterday to me. When Mr Ettedgui answered a question in class, another former student, Martin Rosell, now chair of the Liberal Democrats in Salisbury, corroborated the antisemitism allegations, saying Farage used to

mutter something like 'Jew' under his breath. When asked if there was a political motive behind his decision to speak out now, Mr Rosell said,

I don't think so. I'm not doing this as a member of my local church.

I'm doing this as a human being who remembers something from 49 years ago,

my recollections are certainly the same as those of many others.

People around the world will be watching with fear,

Josh Babarinde, a Liberal Democrat president-elect and MP for Eastbourne, said.

The Reform leader shamefully labels them all liars rather than accepts blame for their behavior.

The British people are entitled to decent politicians with integrity, not weasels who try to rewrite history when it doesn't suit them.

Nigel Farage's appalling attempt to brush off serious allegations of antisemitism and other appaling forms of bigotry as playground banter is as insulting as it is unbelievable,Labour peer Lord John Mann said.Farage must do the right thing and come clean with the British people about the full extent of his past conduct

and apologise to those who have bravely opened up to share their deeply moving and troubling experiences.

The British people expect all their party leaders to act with integrity and humility, and they are unforgiving of those who do not. Nigel Farage must face the seriousness of the situation and apologise in person.

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