Farage should say sorry over alleged racism at school, says senior peer

Nigel Farage should offer an unreserved apology to people who allege he targeted them with racist or antisemitic behaviour while at school, the outgoing head of the government's equalities watchdog has said.

- Peter Walker

Kishwer Falkner, a crossbench peer who has just completed five years as chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, said that even if the Reform UK leader rejected the allegation that he had been deliberately racist, he could nonetheless apologise to people who said they had been deeply hurt by his actions.

A total of 28 contemporaries of Farage at Dulwich college have told the Guardian they experienced or witnessed such behaviour when he was a teenager.

They include Peter Ettedgui, 61, who is Jewish, and said Farage repeatedly told him “Hitler was right” or said “gas them” at him when they were at school. On Friday, Yinka Bankole said the then 17-year-old Farage had told him: “That’s the way back to Africa” when he was much younger and new to the school.

Farage and his spokespeople have said that those making the allegations have misremembered because of the amount of time that has passed, or that some have targeted him for political reasons. He has consistently denied making any malicious comments.