Nigel Farage denies being racist at top private school ‘That was 49 years ago’

Nigel Farage denies being racist at top private school ‘That was 49 years ago’ Barney Davis Published November 24, 2025 10:54pm Updated November 24, 2025 10:54pm Share this article via whatsappShare this article via xCopy the link to this article.Link is copiedShare this article via facebook Comment now Comments Nigel Farage has denied being a racist at school (Picture: PA)

Nigel Farage has hit back at claims from his former schoolmates that he engaged in racist bullying while at private school.

The Reform UK leader, looking to become the next prime minister, directly responded to reports about his behaviour while at Dulwich College, south London, as a teenager.

Schoolmates accused Farage, 61, of targeting minority ethnic pupils, singing a ‘Gas ’em all’ song referring to killing non-white people, and burning a school roll in a year group when there were said to be more Patels than Smiths.

Emmy-winning director Peter Ettedgui, now 61, told the Guardian, Farage, when 13 and 14 years old, would sidle up to him and growl ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘Gas them’.

He is also alleged to have told non-white pupils to ‘go back’ to wherever they came from.

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Nigel Farage is a frontrunner to take the keys to Number 10 (Picture: PA)

Asked about the claims, the Reform leader replied: ‘This is 49 years ago, by the way. Forty-nine years ago. Have I ever tried to take it out on any individual on the basis of where they’re from? No.’

Asked to categorically rule out that he had engaged in racial abuse, Mr Farage said: ‘I would never, ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way.’

As he continued to face questions about the allegations, he replied: ‘I had just entered my teens. Can I remember everything that happened at school? No, I can’t.

‘Have I ever been part of an extremist organisation or engaged in direct, unpleasant, personal abuse, genuine abuse on that basis? No.’

When asked again if he engaged in racial abuse at the school, Mr Farage replied: ‘Not with intent.’

Asked to elaborate, he replied: ‘No, I have never directly, really tried to go and hurt anybody.’

Mr Farage added: ‘Have I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter in a playground, that you can interpret in the modern light of day in some sort of way? Yes.’

Asked then if this meant he had abused people, Mr Farage replied: ‘I’ve never directly racially abused anybody. No.’

Mr Farage also responded to questions about what action he has taken since Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform in Wales, was sentenced to 10 and a half years for bribery over pro-Russian speeches.

‘We are not a police force,’ he told broadcasters, when asked whether he planned to probe all his MPs about foreign influence.

The Reform leader then suggested a much wider investigation into the influence of other countries on British politics was necessary.

In response to Mr Farage’s interview, Labour peer Lord Mike Katz said: ‘Just when you thought Nigel Farage couldn’t sink any lower, he is trying to say abhorrent racist comments, including vile antisemitic insults, doesn’t matter.

‘He seems to think that you can racially abuse people without it being hurtful and insulting. Let’s be crystal clear: you can’t.’

‘Farage refuses to discipline the racist views of his MPs and he won’t take action on the toxic culture within his party.

‘He should finally come clean on claims over his past and apologise to those who bravely spoke out. Failure to do so would be yet more evidence that Farage is simply unfit for office.’

Labour also pointed to the fact that not long after his interview, Mr Farage appeared on the same stage as Laura Anne Jones, Reform’s only Senedd member, at a rally in Llandudno.

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The MS is currently suspended from the Senedd for making a racial slur.

Liberal Democrat president-elect Josh Babarinde said: ‘The Reform leader’s refusal to deny that he’s said these racist remarks is unbecoming from someone who wants to be our next prime minister.

‘The British people deserve a straight answer.

‘It looks like the mask has slipped and fact-of-the-matter-Farage is turning into no-answers-Nigel.’

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