Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage To Apologise Amid Antisemitism Allegations

Holocaust survivors have written to Nigel Farage urging him to apologise over alleged anti-semitic remarks he made as a teenager.

The Reform UK party leader has been accused of making anti-semitic or racist comments by 28 people while he was at Dulwich College in south London.

Farage insists he has never racially abused anyone with intent, although he did say he may have engaged in “banter in a playground”.

His deputy Richard Tice dismissed the allegations as “made-up twaddle” while speaking to the BBC Radio 4′s Today programme on Thursday.

But in a letter seen by the Guardian, 11 survivors – including Hedi Argent, who lost 27 family members in the Holocaust – reminded Farage that the allegations against him do not amount to “banter”.

According to the newspaper, the group said: “As Holocaust survivors, we understand the danger of hateful words – because we have seen where such words lead.

“Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground. Not anywhere.

“When allegations arise about invoking Nazi attitudes toward Jewish children, the responsible response is honesty, reflection, and commitment to truth.

“So we ask you: did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to antisemitic abuse?”

Reform UK has been approached for comment to the letter.

Farage erupted over the accusations on Thursday during a press conference, when he accused the BBC of “double standards”, and criticised some of its popular shows from the 70s and 80s.

He said: “The double standards and hypocrisy of the BBC are absolutely astonishing. The time I was alleged to have made these remarks, one of your most popular weekly shows was the ’Black and White Ministrel [Show].’”

This programme ran from 1958 to 1978 and was accused of using out-dated stereotypes towards the second half of its 20-year run.

He said: “I cannot put up with the double standards of the BBC about 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 the BBC for virtually everything you did throughout the 1970s and 80s.”

He also claimed to have received multiple letters from former classmates who backed up his claim that he used “schoolboy banter” which was sometimes offensive but “never” had “malice”.