Ex-equalities watchdog head ‘confused’ by Nigel Farage response to racism claims
The former chair of the equalities watchdog has questioned Nigel Farage’s response to allegations of racism during his teenage years and asked why he did not offer “an unreserved apology for any distress he caused”.
The Reform UK leader faced allegations of racist and anti-Semitic behavior while he was a student at Dulwich College, a top private school in south London.
Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News Sunday Morning, former Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) chair Baroness Kishwer Falkner said she was “confused and disturbed” by the allegations.
Describing the allegations as “appalling on paper”, Baroness Falkner said: “The only thing that confuses me a bit about him is that I hear him contextualise all of this. Why can’t he offer an unreserved apology for any distress he has caused?”
“I don’t understand. It seems to me that that would be the most sincere thing to say if he wasn’t actually racist.”
Mr Farage has faced repeated questions about the allegations, which include allegations that he told a Jewish student that “Hitler was right” and that he had “gasped them” and that he told a Black student that “this is the way back to Africa”.
The Clacton MP has denied the allegations, variously saying they were “categorically” untrue and at other times saying he would “never do this in a hurtful or derogatory way”.
At a press conference last week, he continued to deny that he had made racist remarks with “malicious or malicious intent” while accusing broadcasters of alleged “double standards”.
Mr Farage repeatedly shouted the name of controversial comedian Bernard Manning to reporters in a bizarre rant when asked about the allegations.
The comedian, who describes himself as the king of offensive jokes, has repeatedly come under fire for the content of his act.
The reform leader also read a letter from another former student who said Mr Farage was “neither offensive nor racist”.
Reading the letter, he said: “Although it was schoolboy sarcastic macho jokes, it was humour, and yes, sometimes offensive… but never malicious.
“I never heard of him racially abusing anyone.”
Farage’s former classmate Peter Ettedgui, whose Jewish grandparents fled Nazi Germany, is among those who have accused the politician of making racist remarks to him during their school days.
Mr Ettedgui claimed Mr Farage approached him “repeatedly” while he was a student at school and told him “Hitler was right”.
Baroness Falkner’s intervention comes after a group of Holocaust survivors this week called on the Reform leader to apologize for the allegations.
The 11 signatories, some of whom were death camp survivors, write that they “understand the danger of hateful words” and call on the Clacton MP to admit whether he said them himself or whether he is accusing those who say he did of lying.
