A group of Holocaust survivors have called on Nigel Farage to apologise over allegations of racism and antisemitism during his school days.
The Reform UK leader has faced claims about his behaviour while he was a pupil at Dulwich College, a top private school in south London.
Mr Farage denied at a press conference on Thursday that he ever made racist remarks in a âmalicious or nasty wayâ after a Guardian report based on allegations from more than a dozen school contemporaries of Mr Farage recounted alleged incidents of deeply offensive behaviour throughout his teenage years.
He has previously said of the claims that what could have been considered âbanter in a playgroundâ could be interpreted in âthe modern light of day in some sort of wayâ.
The 11 signatories, some of whom have survived death camps, write that they âunderstand the danger of hateful wordsâ and call on the Clacton MP to admit whether he said them or if he is accusing those who say he did of lying.
âLet us be clear: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground. Not anywhere,â they wrote.
They add that âhonesty, reflection and commitment to truthâ is the responsible response when it comes to allegations about âinvoking Nazi attitudesâ towards Jewish children.
âSo we ask you: Did you say âHitler was rightâ and âgas themâ, mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to antisemitic abuse?
âIf you deny saying those words, are you saying that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? If you did say them, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong, and apologise.â
It came as Prime Minister Keir Starmer launched a new blistering attack on the Reform UK leader accusing him of being a âtoxic, divisive disgraceâ over claims he made that one in three schoolchildren in Glasgow do not speak English as their first language and referring to this as the âcultural smashing of Glasgowâ.
Mr Farageâs former classmate Peter Ettedgui, whose Jewish grandparents escaped Nazi Germany, is among those who have accused the politician of making racist remarks to him during their school days.
Mr Ettedgui has claimed that Mr Farage ârepeatedlyâ approached him and said âHitler was rightâ, while they were pupils at the school.
âThose who hope to lead our country should never divide people by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised.â
The Holocaust survivors who signed the letter include Hedi Argent, who fled Austria and lost 27 members of her family, and Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto in the German-occupied Soviet Union.
The latest intervention comes after Mr Farage repeatedly shouted the name of controversial comedian Bernard Manning at journalists as part of a bizarre rant after he was asked about the allegations.
The Reform UK leader also criticised the BBC over the blackface and homophobia he said it repeatedly broadcast in the 1970s, accusing the broadcaster of âdouble standardsâ.
Ducking a question about whether his former schoolmate was lying at a press conference, Mr Farage called the Today programme journalist Emma Barnett âlower gradeâ.
He then accused the broadcaster of âdouble standards and hypocrisyâ because of television programmes such as The Black and White Minstrel Show, which has been criticised for âblackfaceâ and for featuring Mr Manning.
He later shouted the name âBernard Manningâ at a journalist from ITV who asked a similar question.
The comedian, the self-styled king of the offensive joke, repeatedly came under fire for the content of his act.
In the 1990s, he was secretly filmed telling racist jokes at a police charity dinner and criticised by then prime minister John Major. A Labour MP even asked the attorney general to consider charging the comedian with inciting racial hatred for the stream of racist insults and jokes.
