Nigel Farage demands BBC apology for 70s programmes after he was asked about school racism allegations
Reform UK leader slams broadcaster's reporting as “despicable” and “disgusting beyond belief”
Nigel Farage has told the BBC to apologise for “everything it did” in the 1970s and 80s during a rant about the broadcaster’s “double standards” over its reporting of allegations he made racist remarks during his school days.
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The Reform UK leader dismissed claims he made racist remarks while at Dulwich College, saying he never said anything “with malice”.
It comes after his deputy leader, Richard Tice, said those former classmates' testimonies were “made-up twaddle” and lies.
When asked by the whether he agreed with Mr Tice, Mr Farage attacked the BBC in a damning rant.
He said the “double standards and hypocrisy of the BBC are absolutely disgusting” as the broadcaster was “happy to use black face” in one of its most popular weekly shows, The Black and White Minstrels, as well as It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.
The programmes aired during the years that Mr Farage is alleged to have made the remarks.
Read more: Attorney general urges Nigel Farage to apologise over claims of racism and antisemitism
The Reform leader added: “I cannot put up with the double standards of the BBC on what I’m alleged to have said 49 years ago and what you were putting out on mainstream content.
“So I want an apology from virtually everything you did throughout the 1970s and 80s."
It comes after more than a dozen school contemporaries of the 61-year-old claimed he made racist and antisemitic remarks while he attended prestigious private school Dulwich College in a report in the Guardian.
Mr Farage again denied the allegations during Thursday’s press conference, where read out a letter he received from a fellow pupil at Dulwich College
Quoting one of them, he said: “I never heard [Farage] racially abused anyone. If he had, he would have been reported and punished …
“Whilst Nigel stood out, he was neither aggressive nor a racist. If I can help in any way, let me know.”
The Guardian spoken to over 20 people who alleged racist or antisemitic behaviour by Farage at school, including seven people who recall the targeted abuse of Peter Ettedgui, now an Emmy- and Bafta-winning director.
Mr Ettedgui told the Guardian Farage had “repeatedly” approached him and said “Hitler was right”, while they were both pupils at Dulwich College.
In a statement released last month, Mr Farage sought to directly address the allegations.
He said: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published in the Guardian aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.
“Isn’t it interesting: I am probably the most scrutinised figure in British politics, having been in public life for 32 years.
“Isn’t it interesting: I am probably the most scrutinised figure in British politics, having been in public life for 32 years.
“Several books and thousands of stories have been written about me, but it is only now that my party is leading in the polls that these allegations come out.
“I will leave the public to draw their own conclusions about why that might be.”
LBC has approached the BBC for comment.