A former classmate of Nigel Farage has told ITV News he witnessed him racially abusing his friend while at Dulwich College, describing the Reform UK leader’s behaviour as “absolutely appalling”.
Stefan Benarroch, who is Jewish, told ITV News that Farage was the “leader” of a group of teenagers who would allegedly target Jewish boys as they came out of prayers.
“They would identify us as we came out of Jewish prayers, and once they’d seen us once, then that’s it, they know we’re Jewish,” Benarroch told ITV News Political Correspondent Harry Horton.
The allegations were made as Farage continues to push back against claims he repeatedly engaged in antisemitic behaviour, making racist comments to fellow pupils whilst at school.
The Reform leader has, at various points, denied “directly racially abusing anybody”, and on Thursday, the party’s deputy leader Richard Tice dismissed the allegations of antisemitism as “made-up twaddle.”
Stefan Benarroch described Farage’s behaviour as “deeply unpleasant”
The contemporary of Farage said he also witnessed behaviour reported in The Guardian towards another Jewish pupil, Bafta and Emmy-winning director Peter Ettedgui.
“I would have been hanging out with Peter and then Nigel Farage would just come up to him in a random sort of way and say, ‘Hitler should have gassed you all.’
“And I remember as, of course as Peter, this whole thing with the hisses being the sound of the gas, it was really, really deeply unpleasant.”
Benarroch told ITV News he was choosing to speak out because he regards it as his “civic duty”.
“Watching Farage’s behaviour, close up and from a distance, is something I won’t ever forget,” he said.
On Thursday, Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice was asked on BBC Radio 4 Today’s programme whether he thought comments allegedly made to Mr Ettedgui were direct racial abuse, and replied: “Yes I do… I can’t believe anybody would have said that,” calling it “made-up twaddle from people who don’t want Nigel to be prime minister of the country”.
Pressed directly on whether he believed Mr Ettedgui was lying, the Reform deputy leader said: “Yes.”
Tice proceeded to dismiss some of the other allegations about Farage’s behaviour as lies, accusing the men of having a “political axe to grind.”
During a press conference on Thursday, Farage was asked by the BBC and by ITV News about Tice’s comments, responding with a tirade against both broadcasters for “double standards”.
Farage suggested journalists from broadcasters asking questions about the allegations were displaying double standards, because their outlets had in the past aired programmes which would now be considered racist.
Farage accused broadcasters of “double standards” over their questioning of the racism allegations.
Responding to the claims made by Benarroch, Reform repeated the testament included in a letter read by Farage during Thursday’s press conference, which it claimed to have received from a former schoolmate at Dulwich College, who said he never heard the Reform UK leader racially abuse anyone.
Farage read: “I was a Jewish pupil at Dulwich College at the same time, and I remember him very well.
“While there was plenty of macho tongue-in-cheek schoolboy banter, it was humour, and yes, sometimes it was offensive … but never with malice.
“I never heard him racially abuse anyone,” he said.
Reform UK and Farage himself have repeatedly denied the allegations, but Farage appeared to confuse things last week when he said he had “never directly, really tried to go and hurt anybody.”
The Guardian published allegations about Farage’s racist behaviour as a teenager at Dulwich College, a private school in London.
The claims, which Farage denies, come from 20 former classmates, who accuse him of directing racist abuse at minority ethnic pupils and singing a song called “gas ’em all” about killing Jewish, Black and south-east Asian people.
Pressed about the allegations, Farage said: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter in a playground?
“You could interpret in the modern light a day in some sort of way, yes.
“Have I ever been part of an extremist organisation or engaged in direct, unpleasant, personal abuse, genuine abuse on that basis? No.”
Farage insisted several times that the allegations had happened too long ago for memories to be clear.
“I would never, ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way. It’s 49 years ago, isn’t it?” he said.
“I just entered my teens. Can I remember everything that happened at school? No, I can’t.”
Responding to these denials, Labour accused Reform of “repeatedly changing their story.”
A Conservative spokesperson said Farage was too busy defending himself to “defend democracy” from election postponements announced by Labour.
“Nigel Farage just called a press conference and used it to rant at journalists over historic allegations of racism and antisemitism – allegations he has just admitted are true.
“Farage is too busy furiously defending himself to defend democracy from the Labour Party’s election delays.
“Reform’s one-man band is in chaos once again.”
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