The Reform UK leader is facing fresh allegations over his time at Dulwich college in south London, with his peers claiming he made pro-Hitler comments and joked about gas chambers
Nigel Farage has been urged to explain himself after being accused of making racist and antisemitic remarks by a number of former classmates.
The Reform UK leader is facing fresh allegations over his time at Dulwich college in south London, with his peers claiming he made pro-Hitler comments, joked about gas chambers, and put someone in detention for the colour of their skin.
Bafta- and Emmy-winning director and producer Peter Ettedgui, who was 13-at-the time, told The Guardian that the Reform UK leader would tell him “Hitler was right”, or “Gas them” before adding a hiss to replicate the sound of the gas chambers.
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A Reform UK spokesman denied all the allegations, and claimed they were an attempt to smear Mr Farage’s party.
Mr Ettedgui said: “My grandparents had escaped from Nazi Germany, and had always talked with deep gratitude about how they felt welcome in the UK.
“I’d never experienced antisemitism growing up, so the first time that this vicious verbal abuse came out of Farage’s mouth was deeply shocking. But I wasn’t his only target.
“I’d hear him calling other students ‘P**i’ or ‘W*g’, and urging them to ‘go home’.”
Another former pupil told The Guardian about being in a youth organisation called the CCF, during which they claimed Farage had taught songs about gassing Jews.
Patrick Neylan, 61, an editor, who was in the year below Farage, also recalled the singing of the “gas ’em” song on CCF camps.
Tim France, 61, was in the same year as Mr Farage and claimed he would “regularly” perform the Nazi “Seig heil” salute.
He said: “Somebody kind of outwardly doing Nazi salutes, strutting about the classroom, you know, doing, kind of saying things like ‘Hitler was right’ and all that stuff was pretty shocking and therefore very memorable.
“He would often be doing Nazi salutes and saying ‘Sieg heil’ and, you know, strutting around the classroom.
“He would chant, ‘BM, BM, we are British Nazi men,’ that really sticks in my mind.”
Mr France also recalled songs about the gas chambers on school trips. He said: “One of the buses was the smokers’ bus. It was like a fog of thick smoke. Farage called that the gas chamber. He was, you know, joking about it being the gas chamber: ‘Let’s get back in the gas chamber.’ Then he would be sort of singing these kind of ‘gas ’em all’ sort of songs.”
NHS doctor Andy Field claimed Mr Farage once put someone in detention “purely based on the colour of his skin”.
Now Anna Turley MP, Chair of the Labour Party has demanded answers. She said: “These are disturbing allegations and it is vital that Nigel Farage now urgently explains himself. We have seen Farage’s weakness in the face of the divisive politics in Reform’s ranks. They are dragging our politics to a dark place.
“This Labour Government stands for our patriotic British values of decency and tolerance, and importantly unity – we are building a Britain for us all.”
Lib Dem MP Josh Babarinde MP, said: “These allegations are profoundly disturbing, but not surprising. They paint a picture of a man who has continued to peddle conspiracy theories and tropes, and who has gone on to build a political career by spreading division and hate.“If true, Farage must apologise. Politicians from across party lines must show the public that this will never, and can never, be tolerated.”
Georgina Laming, Director of Campaigns at Hope not hate, said: “These revelations are sadly no surprise. Nigel Farage has consistently expressed anti-immigrant and intolerant views and shown voters who he really is”.
Earlier this year the Deputy PM David Lammy was forced to apologise after claiming in an interview with the BBC that Mr Farage “once flirted with Hitler Youth when he was younger”.
Mr Lammy was referring to allegations first aired by Channel 4 News over a decade ago that English teacher Chloe Deakin had claimed Mr Farage and others had “marched through a quiet Sussex village very late at night shouting Hitler Youth songs”.
There was no suggestion that Mr Farage as the adult holds the same views ascribed to him by others as a child, and other students have no recollection of the remarks or behaviour suggested by Mr Ettedgui.
In a statement, spokesperson for Reform UK said: “These allegations are entirely without foundation. The Guardian has produced no contemporaneous record or corroborating evidence to support these disputed recollections from nearly 50 years ago.
“It is no coincidence that this newspaper seeks to discredit Reform UK — a party that has led in over 150 consecutive opinion polls and whose leader bookmakers now have as the favourite to be the next Prime Minister.
“We fully expect these cynical attempts to smear Reform and mislead the public to intensify further as we move closer to the next election.”