Nigel Farage has lashed out at broadcasters over allegations of racism and antisemitism during his schooldays, as the number of former classmates making such claims reached 28. At a press conference in London, the Reform UK leader repeatedly shouted 'Bernard Manning' and suggested he would boycott the BBC, while accusing ITV of having 'its own case to answer'.
The outburst came as five more former pupils of Dulwich College came forward to the Guardian with allegations that they had witnessed deeply offensive racist or antisemitic behaviour by Farage. Among them was Nick Hearn, a banker, who said he regularly saw Farage abusing Peter Ettedgui, an Emmy- and Bafta-winning director, and called on Farage to 'come clean'.
Hearn described the behaviour as 'personal [and] vindictive', not mere 'banter' as Farage has previously suggested. He recalled: 'He had a reputation in school for being a racist. I think he should come clean about his inappropriate behaviour as a young man and apologise.'
Mark Bridges, another former classmate, said he remembered Farage as 'a racist bully' who tormented Ettedgui. The Guardian has also obtained a copy of the 1980 school roll showing 13 Patels and 12 Smiths, corroborating claims that Farage reacted angrily to the name Patel being more common.
A further former pupil of Asian background claimed Farage would say 'Enoch Powell was right' as a form of 'racial intimidation', and recalled an assembly where Farage shouted out aggressively when the name Patel was read out. Reform's deputy leader, Richard Tice, has dismissed all the claims as lies.
