Starmer: Farage should hear from Jewish kids about the long term impact of antisemitism

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on Nigel Farage to follow his example and sit down with young Jewish students to hear firsthand the devastating accounts of how antisemitism has affected their lives.

Starmer made the appeal after he was left visibly disturbed  by the harrowing stories shared during a meeting at Bushey United Synagogue in Hertsmere on Thursday.

During the two-hour session, Starmer listened to students—both at university and school—as well as their parents,  and members of the communty in other fields of employment, as they recounted distressing experiences of antisemitism and its impact on their lives over the past two years.

Speaking to Jewish News after the meeting on Thursday, Starmer said he was struck by the extent to which antisemitism had “massively impacted” the victims.

“It was really difficult for some to even talk about it,” he said. “I know they’re going to carry that for years and years and years; this is not just something which can be passed over.”

Asked for his view on Nigel Farage’s response to allegations from Jewish pupils at Dulwich College—who claimed Farage had engaged in antisemitic and racist taunts as a teenager—Starmer said:“Let me go to the heart of that question. This afternoon in Bushey I’ve spoken to a number of different groups, including Jewish students, young people, children at school.

“They’ve described to me some of the antisemitism they’ve experienced. It has massively impacted them.

“It is really difficult for them to even talk about it, and I know they’re going to carry that for years and years; this is not just something that can be passed over.

“Now, these allegations were made in relation to Nigel Farage. They’re serious. They affect human beings in a visceral way.”

Starmer continued: “If he [Farage] has an idea that some of this doesn’t impact people, he should spend an afternoon, as I have, listening to people describe their experience of antisemitism, which they will carry for years to come because it’s hugely impactful. That’s what he should do.”

He suggested that in response to the allegations about racism in his younger days, Farage should “seek out some of the people who’ve come forward, which is a difficult thing to do, and apologise to them.”

Continuing his criticism of the Reform UK leader, Starmer added: “He’s got plenty to say, apart from questions being asked of himself. So this is about who he is as a person. It’s who he is as a leader. I would have expected him to want to address this and to explain what actually happened.”

On Monday, Farage, 61, responded to the allegations published by The Guardian, insisting he had “never directly racially abused anybody” during his time at Dulwich College.

However, Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish former pupil who sat near Farage in Class 3R, said he clearly remembered being subjected to antisemitic abuse by Farage—including taunts such as “Hitler was right” and “gas them”—something he had never experienced before.

Stefan Benarroch, another Jewish former pupil who was two years below Farage, said that while he was not personally targeted, he recalled abuse directed at Ettedgui. He also claimed that students leaving Jewish assemblies at Dulwich College were targeted by Farage and others for taunts.

A third Jewish former pupil, Rickard Berg, who was in the same year as Farage during O-levels, told The Guardian he also remembered abuse of Ettedgui as direct and intended to hurt.

Responding to these claims, Farage 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.”

However, speaking to broadcasters on Monday, he added: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter in a playground, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Yes.”

He went on to admit he “probably” had “misspoken in my younger days” and hoped he had not said anything that could be construed as racist, but noted his recollection was imperfect after more than four decades.

Farage denied directly abusing anyone, which he defined as “taking it out on an individual on the basis of who they are or what they are.”