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Starmer urges Farage to explain himself over claims of past racist behaviour

about 5 hours ago
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Keir Starmer has called on Nigel Farage to urgently explain himself after the Reform leader wholesale denied numerous detailed allegations of racist behaviour during his teenage years.Responding to the Reform MP Lee Anderson at prime minister’s questions, Starmer raised the Guardian’s reporting of allegations from well over a dozen school contemporaries of Farage.He said: “Mr Speaker, he [Anderson] talks about dog whistle.Last week his leader said he didn’t have time to condemn the racist comments of his fellow MP for Runcorn.“He also said he didn’t have time to condemn his party calling children in care evil.

He didn’t have time.I wonder if we could ask his leader next door to him whether he’s got time for his explanation for the stories in today’s papers.”The prime minister’s spokesperson said: “These are disturbing allegations and it’s vital that Nigel Farage urgently explains himself.You’ve heard the prime minister speak just this week about Farage’s weakness in the face of divisive politics in Reform’s ranks.“He’s still not condemned the language or taken action against one of his MPs’ racist comments, refused to condemn them when asked last week.

Reform is dragging our politics into a dark place.This Labour government stands for our patriotic British values of decency, tolerance and importantly, unity.So, it’s for Nigel Farage to explain.”A spokesperson for Farage, speaking to reporters in parliament, reiterated the Reform leader’s denial of the allegations, questioning why some had not made the claims before.“Our statement was very clear that these allegations date back 45 years,” he said.

“And I think that at any point in time, when Nigel was leader of Ukip, when he stood in the 2010 general election, the 2015 general election, during Brexit, maybe in the 2019 general election, you would have to ask yourself, why didn’t this come up before?”Asked if Farage thus believed those who made the allegations were inventing them, the spokesperson said: “I’m saying there is no primary evidence.It’s one person’s word against another.”He added: “If things like this happened a very, very long time ago, you can’t necessarily recollect what happened.”Asked if someone would be blocked from standing as a candidate if they had made similar comments, a spokesperson for Reform said they would, if there was “some hard evidence”.The prime minister’s comments followed those of John Woodcock, an adviser on political extremism to the last Conservative government as a cross-bench peer, who said testimonies reported by the Guardian appeared credible and that the Reform leader’s response would be concerning to many.

Farage has issued a blanket denial that he behaved in a way that was antisemitic or racist as a teenager, including to allegations that he targeted minority ethnic children for abuse during his time at Dulwich college, sang a “Gas ’em all” song that referred to the killing of Jewish, black and south-east Asian people and burned a school roll in a year when there were said to be more Patels than Smiths,When previously faced with claims from Channel 4 in 2013 about his conduct at school, he admitted saying “some ridiculous things … not necessarily racist things … it depends on how you define it”,In response to the fresh allegations, a spokesperson for Reform, which is leading in the opinion polls, told the Guardian they were “entirely without foundation”, describing them as an attempt to smear the party leader,Woodcock, ennobled as Lord Walney in 2020, and who was appointed by Boris Johnson as an adviser on political violence and extremism and continued in that role under Rishi Sunak, suggested a prospective prime minister should not seek to brush off such claims,He said: “These detailed testimonies from Mr Farage’s contemporaries appear credible and describe a degree of extremism that cannot be summarily dismissed as irrelevant simply because it was alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager.

Many people will readily accept that young people can espouse offensive or extreme views that should not define their character as an adult.“They will be more concerned by the fact that Mr Farage is apparently now completely denying he ever said anything racist or antisemitic as a child, despite several public statements to the contrary from people who say they were on the receiving end of it from him.“This suggests a man not at ease with his past – a troubling characteristic for someone who is seeking to govern the country.”The Guardian spoke to more than a dozen of Farage’s contemporaries at Dulwich college, a public school in south London, who said they had witnessed “racist” behaviour by him.Among those was the Bafta- and Emmy-winning director Peter Ettedgui, 61, who claimed to have been verbally abused by Farage repeatedly as a 13- and 14-year-old.

“He would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right,’ or ‘Gas them,’ sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers,” Ettedgui claimed of his experience of sharing a class with Farage.Not all of the school contemporaries who spoke to the Guardian recalled racist behaviour or felt that Farage was bigoted.But a number of those who did experience such behaviour said they had been motivated to speak out by Farage’s failure to show contrition about his past.The allegations were described as “disturbing” by the chair of the all-party parliamentary group against antisemitism.The Labour MP Joani Reid said: “As the chair of the APPG against antisemitism I have found these reports disturbing, and I am sure they have caused concern amongst Britain’s Jewish community, which is facing an unprecedented rise in antisemitism.

“I cannot comment on the veracity of these claims, only on how they make me feel.I think it essential that Mr Farage makes it clear he would not tolerate anyone in his party expressing such views at any time, and that these are not views he would ever express.Neither hatred of Jews nor any other racist opinion should be tolerated in Reform or any other party in parliament.”Anna Turley, the chair of the Labour party, 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.”The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, Max Wilkinson, said: “A lot of people say stupid and offensive things at school, but most grow out of it.Sadly, in Nigel Farage’s case he’s made a career out of it instead.”Georgina Laming, the 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.”The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.Secure Messaging in the Guardian appThe Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories.Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs.

This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu.Select ‘Secure Messaging’.SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and postIf you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.Finally, our guide at theguardian.

com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.
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