THE FUSE

Watch: Jewish classmate claims Nigel Farage told him "Hitler was right"

A Jewish former classmate of Nigel Farage has told the BBC the Reform UK leader is being "fundamentally dishonest" by suggesting former pupils who say they witnessed his racism are not telling the truth.

Peter Ettedgui said Farage had repeatedly told him "Hitler was right" and "gas them" when they were teenagers at Dulwich College, in London.

On Monday, Farage said he had "never directly racially abused anybody" after claims by former Dulwich College pupils, including Mr Ettedgui, that were first reported in The Guardian.

Mr Ettedgui said Farage's claim that those making allegations about his past behaviour were not telling the truth had left him "really angry".

In a BBC interview on Monday, Farage, 61, said he had probably "misspoken in my life, in my younger days, when I was a child".

But he insisted he had not "directly racially abused" anyone "by taking it out on an individual on the basis of who they are what they are".

Asked if those making the allegations about him were telling the truth, he said: "Well, suddenly after 49 years they seem to have perfect recollection. I would say to you there is a strong political element to this."

Pushed again on whether they were telling the truth, Farage said: "No, they are not telling the truth."

After watching Farage's denials, Mr Ettedgui told the BBC: "This is a man who has power, influence, has had a massive impact on the direction of this country, for which, you know, hats off to him.

"And he is being fundamentally dishonest in everything that he says there. So I feel upset and angry about that."

Mr Ettedgui is one of more than a dozen former Dulwich College pupils from the late 1970s and early 1980s who have claimed they witnessed Farage being racist.

As someone who sat near the future Reform leader in Class 3R at Dulwich College, Mr Ettedgui says he can clearly remember antisemitic abuse being directed at him, something he says he had never experienced before.

"One of the most vivid memories of my school life is Farage repeatedly coming up to me and, knowing that I was Jewish, saying Hitler was right and 'gas 'em', and that was frequently followed by a 'sssss', you know, kind of imitating the sound of escaping gas.

"That's my abiding memory of him, and that sort of verbal abuse happened quite consistently over the year that we were together in the same class.

"And it was pretty vicious, it was pretty nasty, it was absolutely directed in a very personal way at me."

He said Farage's words had "hit hard" because his grandparents had escaped Nazi Germany and much of their family had perished in the Holocaust.

"It wasn't the normal sort of vaguely antisemitic banter that you might encounter in the school grounds at that time in the 1970s. It was much worse," he added.

Asked how he could be sure that his memory was correct, given that the events he describes happened many decades ago, Mr Ettedgui said: "I think anyone who suffers any kind of abuse, it's going to mark their lives.

"And I carry that memory with me very, very strongly."

He also hit back at Farage's claim that he was a "child" at the time of the alleged incidents.

"We were teenagers, which in many religions is the age where you turn your gaze towards the adult world," he said.

He added that the teenage Farage was "very well-informed" and "had a sense of history and politics already at that time".

He rejected claims that his allegations were part of a politically motivated smear campaign, saying that he had "a deeply personal motivation" to speak out now because the idea of Farage becoming prime minister was "repellent and horrifying" to him.

"Is Farage saying here that around 20 people who go on the record, who either experienced or witnessed this kind of abuse, are we all lying?" he asked.

"Is this some sort of conspiracy between us all? Well, I can tell him right now, we haven't spoken to each other. We haven't coordinated this in any way."

Watch: Nigel Farage denies racism allegations against him

Claims about Farage's alleged teenage racism were first raised 13 years ago by journalist Michael Crick, when he was a reporter for Channel 4 News.

When The Guardian published fresh allegations last week, Reform UK said they were "entirely without foundation".

"The Guardian has produced no contemporaneous record or corroborating evidence to support these disputed recollections from nearly 50 years ago," said a Reform spokesman.

"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."

Some former Dulwich College pupils say they do not recognise the picture that has been painted of Farage or the allegations of racism against him.

Patrick Neylan, who was in the year below Farage at Dulwich College, told the BBC there was some singing of songs that he would not be proud of now.

But he added: "I never saw Farage being openly racist, antisemitic towards any individual…I'd be disappointed because I never thought of him as an overt racist."

The BBC has spoken to two former pupils who say they remember Farage personally targeting Peter Ettedgui.

Jean-Pierre Lihou said: "I remember him specifically talking about 'do go home, Hitler was right', singing 'Gas Them All' and all of these absolutely antisemitic comments directed straight at Peter."

He said he was convinced his memories were accurate and it "seems like yesterday to me".

Another former pupil, Martin Rosell, who is now chair of a local Liberal Democrat branch, also corroborated the antisemitism claims, claiming Farage used to "mutter something like 'Jew' under his breath" when Mr Ettedgui answered a question in class.

Asked if there was a political motivation 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 party.

"I am doing this is a human being who remembers something from 49 years ago, and my recollections are clearly the same as many other people."

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