Nigel Farage denies saying anything racist ‘with malice’ as he attacks BBC | Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage has denied saying anything racist “maliciously” in his latest bid to address allegations of abuse made by many of his contemporaries at the school.
The Reform leader refused to call his accusers liars but lost his cool when he lashed out at the BBC for questioning him about allegedly anti-Semitic comments.
He grew increasingly angry in response to a BBC question about deputy leader Richard Tice, saying the statements of his former classmates were “made-up chatter” and lies.
Tice was previously questioned by the BBC’s Emma Barnett, who pressed the politician on Farage’s “relationship with Hitler”, regarding claims by a former Jewish classmate that Farage told him: “Hitler was right” or “Give them gas”.
In response, Farage launched a tirade against the BBC, saying he would no longer speak to the broadcaster, calling it “vile” and “unbelievable”.
Describing Barnett as one of the BBC’s “lower-rated presenters”, he criticized the way he asked the question and then attacked the BBC for showing programs in the 1970s and 1980s that would be considered racist today.
“I cannot stand the BBC’s double standards about the allegations I made 49 years ago and the things you published in mainstream content. So I want an apology from the BBC for almost everything you did throughout the 1970s and 80s,” he said, referring to comedian Bernard Manning and fictional character Alf Garnett, as well as The Black and White Minstrel Show.
He then went on to read a letter he said he had received from a former schoolmate at Dulwich University, in which he said he had never heard of the UK Reform leader racially abusing anyone.
The letter said: “I was also a Jewish student at Dulwich College and I remember him very well. Although there was a lot of macho slapstick schoolboy jokes, it was in humour, and yes, it was sometimes offensive… but never malicious. I never heard of him racially abusing anyone.”
“If he had been, he would have been reported and punished. He wasn’t. The reports are without evidence, apart from belated, politically dubious memories from almost half a century ago. “The culture was very different in the 1970s… especially in Dulwich.
“Many boys said things they would regret or just laugh at today. Although Nigel stood out, he was neither offensive nor racist.”
Asked repeatedly whether his accusers, such as producer Peter Ettedgui, were liars and fabricators, Farage refused to confirm Tice’s remarks.
He was questioned again by ITV about the allegations and Farage attacked the broadcaster for featuring racist comedian Bernard Manning.
Asked whether the allegations of racist comments were actual events but that his classmates experienced them differently, Farage said: “Memories may differ.”
Labor leader Anna Turley said: “Nigel Farage cannot get his story right. It really shouldn’t be this hard to tell whether he has racially abused people in the past.”
“He claimed that he didn’t remember until now, that it wasn’t true, that he never ‘directly’ abused anyone, that he was responsible for the ‘offensive jokes’, and deflected the issue by saying that other people were racist too.
“Instead of shamelessly demanding an apology from others, Nigel Farage should apologize to the victims of his allegedly appalling remarks.”
The Conservatives said Farage had “just held a press conference and used it to shout at journalists over allegations of historic racism and antisemitism – allegations which he has just admitted are true”.
