David Lammy has spoken about his “traumatic” experience of racial abuse at school, as he called on Nigel Farage to apologize for comments he allegedly made during his teenage years.
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Lammy said the testimony of more than 20 contemporaries of the Reform leader’s school about his racist and anti-Semitic behavior was “deeply disturbing”.
Farage has faced repeated calls to show remorse following a Guardian investigation into his time at Dulwich College in south-east London, but he has yet to apologise.
He has denied that anything he did as a young man was “directly” racist or anti-Semitic, while acknowledging that the “joke” could be interpreted differently today.
Lammy, 53, whose parents, David and Rosalind, came to the UK from Guyana, compared Faraz, 61, to people who abused him while growing up in north London.
He said: “I was at school at the same time as Nigel Farage, in the late 70s, early 80s, and some of my former classmates approached me and apologized for some of the racial abuse I suffered in that particular era. He should do the same.
“That kind of behavior in adolescence is really quite painful, very isolating. It’s extremely disturbing to read those stories. He is now the leader of a political party. He should do the right thing and apologise.”
Claims from Faraz’s schoolmates suggest he engaged in racist behavior throughout his time at secondary school, including targeting specific minority ethnic children with abuse.
Those who have given detailed testimony of their alleged experiences include Emmy and BAFTA-winning director Peter Ettedgui, who claimed that a 13-year-old Farage “would come up to me and growl ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘Gasing them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of gas splashes”.
Another minority ethnic student claimed he was similarly targeted by 17-year-old Faraj when he was about nine years old. “He went up to a student body with two equally tall classmates and talked down to anyone who looked ‘different’,” the student said. “This involved me on three occasions asking me where I was from, and pointing to the other side and saying ‘that’s the way’ where you responded that you were from there.”
Faraz has claimed that nearly two dozen former classmates who have told the Guardian about witnessing racist behavior are politically motivated and not telling the truth. He specifically denies Ettedgui’s claims.
Keir Starmer has described Farage as “spineless” and on Monday the attorney general, Richard Harmer, said the Reform leader had not condemned anti-Semitism in any of his comments since the allegations were made.
Harmer said: “To argue that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same thing about his bad behavior is simply not credible. During his defensive responses to legitimate questions asked of him, not once has Farage actually condemned anti-Semitism.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has expressed his disappointment at Farage’s “desperate” refusal as he explained how his experiences as a child had shaped his life. “Being called the P-word at that age not only hurts you, it changes you,” he said.
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