Three more ex-pupils at school with Nigel Farage reject ‘banter’ claims
Three more school contemporaries who claim to have witnessed Nigel Farage’s alleged teenage racism have rejected the Reform UK leader’s suggestion that it was “banter”, describing it as targeted, persistent and nasty.One former pupil, Stefan Benarroch, claimed that people emerging from a Jewish assembly at Dulwich college had been in the sights of Farage and others for taunts while a second, Cyrus Oshidar, described as “rubbish” the claim that the Reform leader did not act with intent to hurt.“Being called a Paki isn’t hurtful?” Oshidar asked.A third, Rickard Berg, told the Guardian: “He’s now in a position where he shouldn’t be denying this.He’s straight up lying.
”The Guardian has spoken to more than 20 people who alleged racist or antisemitic behaviour by Farage at school, including seven people who say they recall the targeted abuse of Peter Ettedgui, who is now an Emmy- and Bafta-winning director.The alleged abuse spanned six years, from age 13 to 18.On Monday night, Farage broke his silence over allegations that he had targeted fellow pupils for racial and antisemitic abuse, nearly a week after the Guardian published an investigation into his alleged conduct.His aides previously said that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.In his broadcast interview, Farage changed tack and appeared to admit to saying things that could be construed as prejudiced today.
But he denied any “intent” to inflict hurt on people due to their race or religion.He said: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter in a playground, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Yes.”He went on to admit that he “probably” had “misspoken in my younger days” and that he hoped he had not said anything that could be construed as racist but that his recollection was imperfect after more than four decades.He denied directly abusing anyone, which he defined as “taking it out on an individual on the basis of who they are or what they are”.He suggested that those who had spoken out were politically motivated and were not “telling the truth”.
In a further statement on Tuesday after the Guardian put fresh allegations to him, Farage appeared to change his stance again.“I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published in the Guardian aged 13, nearly 50 years ago,” he said.He claimed the Guardian wanted to “smear anybody who talks about the immigration issue”.Writing for the Guardian, Ettedgui, who alleges that Farage as a 13-year-old classmate would say “Hitler was right” or “gas them” to him, claimed: “Well, he did directly target me and I can tell you that it did hurt.How did he think it would make me feel? How does he think those who were called Pakis or told to ‘go home’ felt?”Benarroch, who is Jewish and was two years below Farage at school, said he did not get personally targeted by him but that he recalled the abuse allegedly meted out to Ettedgui.
“He was such a gentle soul and Farage – Farage made his life a fucking nightmare,” he said.“They could only identify us, because we had to go to this stupid Jewish service in the science labs school.I mean, none of us were remotely religious.They would hang out there.Farage would hang out with his minions.
And then they would taunt us as we would leave.”Of Farage’s claim that those who had spoken out were not telling the truth, he believes “this is the oldest of the antisemitic tropes”.He said he considered this was akin to claiming there is a “worldwide Jewish global conspiracy, and in order to have a conspiracy, you have to lie.That is what Reform are accusing us of.It couldn’t get more personal.
”Berg, who was in the same year as Farage during O-levels, said he also recalled the abuse of Ettedgui as being direct and designed to hurt,He said: “He definitely had a go at Peter and there were a couple of others he would also have a go at,Me being foreign, because I’m Swedish, he sort of made the point that I was foreign, but didn’t have a go at me, because for a start, I stood up to him,The other guys didn’t,Peter Ettedgui never reacted to him.
Farage was a bully, typical, picked on the soft guys who wouldn’t stand up, rise to the bait.That’s the way he worked.“He was nasty, there was no question.[The song] Gas ’em all, I heard him singing it to Ettedgui.I didn’t get it at the time, because Peter didn’t react.
Back in the day, you thought it was for him to react,”Oshidar, who was in the same year as Farage, said he recalled the constant name calling, including the use of antisemitic and racial slurs,“The same sort of noise that came out of him every day,” he claimed, adding that he recognised that it was “the language of that time”,He claimed: “He wasn’t the only one saying it,But he was the only one in Dulwich saying it regularly.
”Responding to Farage’s denial that he abused anyone directly, he claimed: “No, that’s rubbish.I mean, that’s absolutely rubbish.There’s no question that this happened … Because of who he is now and where he is he will try to deny it.But he can’t.I mean, it’s undeniable.
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Labour is still in a muddle on North Sea oil and gas | Nils Pratley
Labour’s manifesto commitment on North Sea oil and gas production was a fudge. On one hand, it said no new licences “to explore new fields” would be granted. On the other, it said existing fields would be managed “for the entirety of their lifespan” in a way “that does not jeopardise jobs”.The formulation raised many questions. Where, exactly, would the line be drawn between a new field and an existing field? What would be the approach to protecting workers when, as now, North Sea jobs are estimated to be going at a rate of 1,000 a month according to analysis by Robert Gordon University?The thinking is only slightly easier to understand now
Ed Miliband confirms crackdown on North Sea exploration – but new drilling will continue
The government has ruled out new North Sea oil and gas exploration or lower taxes for fossil fuel companies as it struggles to protect workers from the industry’s collapse.In a strategy paper, Ed Miliband confirmed the crackdown on new North Sea exploration – although the energy secretary will still allow new offshore fossil fuel projects to move ahead as long as they are linked to existing fields.The strategy was released alongside Rachel Reeves’ budget statement, which ended months of speculation over the future of the North Sea industry by confirming the government’s intention to ban new oil and gas licences to explore new fields, and keep tax rates in place.The Labour party swept to power with a promise to end new exploration drilling, alongside a pledge to work with oil and gas companies to manage the North Sea’s remaining lifespan.The government hopes that by allowing “tie-back” projects that are linked to existing schemes it can strike a balance between protecting thousands of North Sea jobs and meeting the UK’s climate commitments
ChatGPT firm blames boy’s suicide on ‘misuse’ of its technology
The maker of ChatGPT has said the suicide of a 16-year-old was down to his “misuse” of its system and was “not caused” by the chatbot.The comments came in OpenAI’s response to a lawsuit filed against the San Francisco company and its chief executive, Sam Altman, by the family of California teenager Adam Raine.Raine killed himself in April after extensive conversations and “months of encouragement from ChatGPT”, the family’s lawyer has said.The lawsuit alleges the teenager discussed a method of suicide with ChatGPT on several occasions, that it guided him on whether a suggested method would work, offered to help him write a suicide note to his parents and that the version of the technology he used was “rushed to market … despite clear safety issues”.According to filings at the superior court of the state of California on Tuesday, OpenAI said that “to the extent that any ‘cause’ can be attributed to this tragic event” Raine’s “injuries and harm were caused or contributed to, directly and proximately, in whole or in part, by [his] misuse, unauthorised use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of ChatGPT”
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Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, writing to you from an American grocery store, where I’m planning my Thanksgiving pies.In tech, the European Union is deregulating artificial intelligence; the United States is going even further. The AI bubble has not popped, thanks to Nvidia’s astronomical quarterly earnings, but fears persist. And Meta has avoided a breakup for a similar reason as Google
Commonwealth Games hosts Ahmedabad vow not to repeat Delhi 2010 farce
Ahmedabad has vowed not to make the same mistakes as Delhi in 2010 and to “lay the foundations for the next 100 years” after being confirmed as the host of the 2030 Commonwealth Games.Organisers said that 15 to 17 sports would feature in 2030 – up from the 10 that will feature in Glasgow next summer – including athletics, swimming, table tennis, bowls and netball. Twenty20 cricket and triathlon are on a provisional list, with the process to determine the final list of sports starting next month.The Indian city has been selected ahead of a rival bid from Abuja in Nigeria and was given final approval at Commonwealth Sport’s general assembly in Glasgow on Wednesday .With India heavily targeting the 2036 Summer Olympics, organisers were keen to stress the Commonwealth Games in the state of Gujarat would prove they could organise a large multi-sport event without any hiccups
Field of Dreams-like shrine to cricket built ‘from bud to bat’ – photo essay
Ian Tinetti watches the wind in his willows as Newstead’s opening batters prepare to take on Hepburn in the hamlet of Shepherds Flat. His self-made cricket ground is about the only thing that is flat in Victoria’s Central Highlands and, on a chilly November afternoon, the adjacent grove of English Willow makes it feel even more like the Yorkshire Dales.Visiting this Field of Dreams-like shrine to the game is like uncovering the interconnected layers of a Russian doll – bat making, the Hepburn area’s Swiss-Italian heritage, the history of Victorian cricket and Australian rules football, and also, appropriately, doll collecting.Cricket Willow’s origin can be traced back to an idle exchange during the 1902 Ashes Test at the MCG, when umpire Robert Crockett said to England captain Archie MacLaren that Australia did not cultivate its own bat willow.Above: Newstead and Hepburn meet in a Castlemaine & District Cricket Association match at the self-made ground at Cricket Willow
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