Nigel Farage Fresh claims of racist and antisemitic behaviour at school

Multiple accounts of offensive incidents rejected by Reform leader Bafta-winning director among contemporaries urging apology

- Special report By Daniel Boffey, Mark Blacklock and Henry Dyer

IT IS THE HECTORING TONE, the "jeering quality", in Nigel Farage's voice today that brings it all back for Peter Ettedgui. "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 said of his experience of being in a class with Farage at Dulwich college in south London.

Ettedgui, 61, is a Bafta-winning director and producer whose credits include Kinky Boots, McQueen and Super/Man: the Christopher Reeve Story. Back then he was a 13-year-old boy at a loss as to how to handle what he described as a sudden and inexplicable intrusion of antisemitism in his life.

This is the first time Ettedgui has spoken in such detail of his alleged experiences, but he is not the only one. In recent weeks, the Guardian has heard allegations from more than a dozen school contemporaries of Farage who recount incidents of deeply offensive behaviour throughout his teenage years.

This is not the whole picture. Others who knew Farage then remember he was bumptious, rude, provocative and enjoyed being the centre of attention, but do not recall the behaviour described by Ettedgui and others.

There is no claim that Farage the man must still hold the same views as the ones ascribed to Farage the boy. But their memories of him left marks - ones that have not dissolved with the passage of time, and are often revealed again when he talks about issues such as immigration.

They say they want to see more moral clarity from a man who could be Britain's next prime minister.

What was troubling, one explained, was the lack of contrition in the intervening decades. A couple of ex-pupils who spoke to the Guardian said they were deeply ashamed of their own part in singing "racist" songs.