Was Nigel Farage a racist schoolboy?

Read time: 4 mins

In brief…

• A new report by The Guardian newspaper details claims that Nigel Farage made antisemitic remarks at school – echoing a previous Channel 4 investigation in 2013, which uncovered similar claims.
• The journalist who reported on the allegations 12 years ago tells The News Agents why he believes Farage, and Reform UK, has denied the claims much more firmly in 2025.
• Crick, and The News Agents, believe Farage’s change in response is due to his progress in the world of politics, and having his eyes on Downing Street at the next election.

What’s the story?

Nigel Farage has been accused of making antisemitic remarks – almost 50 years ago.

A former school classmate has said Farage, when attending Dulwich college, made jokes about Nazi gas chambers, and used his position as a prefect to give detention to another pupil for the colour of the skin.

Another former classmate claimed Farage taught young football fans a chant called "Gas Em All".

Keir Starmer has described the claims, reported by The Guardian as, "disturbing" and has said it is "vital" that Farage explains himself.

Reform UK has denied the claims entirely.

"The Guardian has produced no contemporaneous record or corroborating evidence to support these disputed recollections from nearly 50 years ago," it has said in a statement.

“I think, generally speaking, politicians are allowed to do stupid things, especially in their school days and even into their early adolescence, just like everybody else – even really quite grossly offensive things,” Lewis Goodall says.

“I think there are ways he could address this in a common sense, matter of fact, way that actually would resonate with quite a lot of people, and most people would accept.”

Nigel Farage school allegations date back to 2013

But this isn’t the first time Nigel Farage’s school antics have been exposed. In 2013, journalist Michael Crick investigated a letter for Channel 4, in which teachers were quoted referring to him as a “racist” and “fascist”.

When confronted by Crick as part of his investigation 12 years ago, Farage admitted he was a “troublemaker” who “wound people up” at school, but said his comments and actions were not racist – even if those affected by them considered them that way.

“There are two sides to Farage, and what I got was the gentler side,” Crick tells Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall.

“I think what we've seen this week is the nasty side.

“He will have felt cornered this week, and he might be feeling that this could cause quite a lot of damage.”

The difference in response, he says, is likely due to the substantial change in Farage’s political position.

“Farage wasn't even an MP then, he wasn’t leader of a rising party that was winning by-elections,” Crick says.

“He hadn't even got anybody into Parliament at that stage. Now the stakes are far higher.”

Farage, he says, will not want to alienate Jewish voters, or donors, from lending support to Reform UK in future elections.

“If you were a Jewish boy at Dulwich College and you've had that happen to you, it will have stuck in your brain for the rest of your life,” he adds.

“People say horrible things, but if you are Jewish, and Farage is saying things about you being gassed, and Hitler being right – that will have stuck in your brain forever.

“And that's why I think this evidence is so powerful, and that it's foolish of Farage and his party to try and pretend that people's memories are at fault.”

Reform has questioned why it has taken Farage’s former classmates so long to make these claims, and says the situation is one person’s word against another.

Crick says this is not the case.

“It’s not one person's word against another, it's about a dozen people's word against another,” he says.

“Many of those are people who have good reason to vividly remember the taunts that Farage made because they are Jewish.”

Does Crick believe Nigel Farage is racist?

Crick tells The News Agents he believes there is “no doubt” Farage said some of the things that college classmates have claimed.

He says that by the end of his investigation he was convinced Farage had been “horribly antisemitic at Dulwich”, but says it was “much less clear” whether he had been racist towards black and asian boys while studying.

He adds that whether or not Farage made the comments he’s been accused of while at school, he does not believe that makes him antisemitic today, describing him as a “huge supporter of Israel.”

“I’m not saying that Farage is antisemitic or racist today, I think that's a complicated discussion to have,” Crick says.

“But if you look at other aspects of his character, you know that he loves being the centre of attention, who loves being provocative, who loves being divisive.”

He believes Farage is happy “pandering to people who are racist”, and doesn’t mind if racists support Reform UK at the ballot box.

Should Farage and Reform have responded differently to the new allegations?

Crick describes Farage – and Reform UK’s – position right now as delicate, and says the party is fiercely protective of its place at the top of opinion polls.

“Reform is the holder of the Ming Vase right now, but they know they've got three years, perhaps, before the next election, and they cannot afford to put a foot wrong,” he says.

“Maybe that is what caused the much more adamant response that he's never said anything like this, and it's all fabricated by Reform's enemies.”

The reason for this change in response, Emily suggests, is because Farage wasn’t an MP in 2013, he was still fringe, but now with his poll numbers eclipsing all other parties, Emily believes his change in approach this time around is due to having Downing Street firmly in his sights.

“Farage has always known – with a sort of brilliance – how to walk the line between something that can sound dog whistle to the people who want to hear it, and just stays on the right side of legal,” she says.

“His response now suggests Reform is going to be possibly more timid in their language in the coming months and years, and certainly in the way that they're dealing with the electorate, because they think that the prize is within sight, and they don't want it all to come crashing to the ground.

“I wonder if that fundamentally changes the character, or nature, of the party itself.”

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