Fundamentally Dishonest”: Former Classmate Accuses Farage of Rewriting School Past Claims “Racist Abuse Was Routine” in 1980s Sussex Classroom
Nigel Farage is facing renewed scrutiny over allegations of racist behaviour during his school years, after a Jewish former classmate accused the Reform UK leader of being “fundamentally dishonest” in rejecting claims that he targeted him with antisemitic abuse.
Peter Ettedgui, who attended Dulwich College alongside Farage in the late 1970s, told the BBC that the political figure repeatedly delivered deeply offensive taunts, including comments that “Hitler was right” and “gas them”, directed at him because he was Jewish.
Farage, now 61, has categorically denied the claims, accusing those making the allegations of political motivation. Ettedgui said he was “really angry” at that suggestion.
Former pupils corroborate the allegations
The BBC has spoken to two additional former Dulwich College pupils who corroborated Ettedgui’s accounts. Their testimonies form part of a group of more than a dozen ex-students who say they witnessed racist behaviour from Farage during their school days.
Responding to Ettedgui’s claims in an interview with GB News, Farage again rejected the accusations.
“I categorically deny saying those things, to that one individual,” he said. “For the Guardian and the BBC to be going back nearly half a century to bring this out shows how desperate they are.”
Earlier in the week, Farage acknowledged that he may have “misspoken” as a young teenager, but insisted he had “never directly racially abused anybody” or targeted an individual “on the basis of who they are”.
Asked whether those making the allegations were telling the truth, he replied that they were not, and suggested there was a “strong political element” behind their recollections.
Ettedgui says Farage is refusing to confront the truth
After watching Farage’s denials, Ettedgui described the Reform leader as “a man with power and influence” who is “being fundamentally dishonest in everything that he says there”.
He vividly recalled the antisemitic taunts he says he endured, which he described as “vicious” and “directed in a very personal way”. His grandparents had fled Nazi Germany, and much of their family had been murdered in the Holocaust.
“It was not the normal vaguely antisemitic banter you might have heard in the playground in the 1970s,” Ettedgui said. “It was much worse.”
He rejected Farage’s suggestion that he was too young at the time to understand the significance of such behaviour, saying they were in their mid-teens and Farage was already “very well informed” with a developed interest in history and politics.
Ettedgui denied any political motivation behind raising the matter, saying his concerns were “deeply personal” and rooted in his belief that the prospect of Farage becoming prime minister was “repellent and horrifying”.
“Is Farage saying that about 20 people who have gone on the record are all lying?” he asked. “We have not coordinated this. There is no conspiracy.”
Farage rejects all claims of racism at school
Farage insisted that if the allegations were true, he would never have been promoted to prefect in his final year at school.
“His recollections are wrong,” he said. “Beyond him, the others simply say they disagree with me politically, which is perhaps not surprising.”
Reform UK previously described the allegations as “entirely without foundation”.
In a later statement, Farage said he did not say “the things published in the Guardian aged 13” and suggested the timing of the reports was politically driven, arguing that his party’s rise in the polls had prompted opponents to “smear anybody who talks about immigration”.
He added that he had spent his career “defeating extremism and far-right politics” and accused some of his critics of being “political opponents”.
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Former pupils offer mixed recollections
While several ex-students recall antisemitic comments, others dispute the allegations. Patrick Neylan, who was in the year below Farage, acknowledged that some students sometimes sang inappropriate songs at the time but said he never witnessed Farage “being openly racist or antisemitic”.
However, two former pupils who spoke to the BBC, Jean-Pierre Lihou and Martin Rosell, explicitly supported Ettedgui’s account.
Lihou recalled hearing Farage use phrases such as “Hitler was right” and “Gas them all”, directed at Ettedgui.
Rosell said Farage would mutter the word “Jew” under his breath when Ettedgui spoke in class.
Both said their memories remained vivid almost five decades later.
Political reaction and calls for clarity
Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde said “people across the country will be watching with horror”, accusing Farage of attempting to “rewrite history” by dismissing multiple testimonies.
Lord John Mann, the government’s adviser on antisemitism, called Farage’s attempt to dismiss the allegations as “playground banter” both “insulting” and “unbelievable”.
He said Farage should “come clean” about his past behaviour and apologise to those who have shared what he called “deeply upsetting and disturbing experiences”.
“The British people expect their party leaders to act with integrity,” Lord Mann said. “Nigel Farage must confront the seriousness of this situation and apologise in person.”
