Thirty-four school contemporaries of Nigel Farage have now come forward to allege they witnessed him behaving in a racist or antisemitic manner at Dulwich College, raising fresh questions over the Reform UK leader's evolving denials. One of the latest accusers, Jason Meredith, who was three years below Farage at the private school in south-east London, claims Farage called him a “paki” and used taunts such as “go back home”.
Meredith, 58, who is of Anglo-Indian heritage and now lives in Switzerland, said he was motivated to speak out by Farage's denial of being racist. “The word ‘paki’ was bandied by him – by Farage – there was kind of an entourage, if I remember right, hangers on,” Meredith told the Guardian. “Simple taunts like ‘Jason is a paki’. I was 15, 16, something like that.”
Farage has faced sustained pressure to apologise but has refused, with his position shifting from outright denial to claiming it was only “banter”. On Wednesday, he told ITV News the allegations were “complete made-up fantasies” and later told Times Radio that claims he told a schoolmate to “go back to Africa” and made gas hissing noises at a Jewish pupil were “complete fantasy land”.
Adrian Woods, 62, a translator who attended Dulwich with Farage, said he witnessed Farage making antisemitic comments to fellow pupil Peter Ettedgui, now an award-winning film director. Woods recalled Ettedgui responding by reciting Shylock's monologue from The Merchant of Venice. Ettedgui has previously claimed Farage would say “Hitler was right” and “gas them”, sometimes adding a long hiss.
Twenty-six school contemporaries have signed an open letter calling on Farage to apologise for his alleged teenage racism, which they say was persistent. A separate letter signed by 11 Holocaust survivors also demands he tell the truth and apologise for alleged antisemitic abuse. Farage has made no public statement in response to either letter.
