By Eniola Amadu
Three of former schoolmates who allege they saw Nigel Farage’s racist behaviour as a teenager have rejected the Reform UK leader’s description of the claim as “banter”, calling it deliberate, repeated and offensive.
A former pupil, Stefan Benarroch, claimed that people from a Jewish assembly at Dulwich college had been targets of Farage and others for taunts while another schoolmate, Cyrus Oshidar, tagged the claim that the Reform leader did not intend to harm as “rubbish”.
“Being called a Paki isn’t hurtful?” Oshidar asked. The third, Rickard Berg, said to the Guardian: “He’s now in a position where he shouldn’t be denying this. He’s straight up lying.”
In response to the racist allegations on Farage, his aides had said that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.
In his televised interview, Farage admitted that some of his past statements might be interpreted as prejudiced. However, he asserted that he had no “intent” to cause harm to people based on their ethnicity or faith.
“Have I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter in a playground, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Yes,” he said.
He rejected the allegations of directly abusing anyone, tagging it as “taking it out on an individual on the basis of who they are or what they are”.
He claimed that those speaking out were not “telling the truth” and were politically motivated.
