The Guardian view on Nigel Farage’s youthful views: the past still matters | Editorial

2 days ago7 min read4 comments

The political arena is often a stage where past actions are scrutinized under the harsh glare of present-day morality, and the recent allegations concerning Nigel Farage's schoolyard behavior present a profound test of this principle. For Peter Ettedgui, a contemporary from their time at the fee-paying Dulwich College in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the memory is not a faded relic but a vivid, unsettling echo.He recounts a young Farage who would sidle up to him and, with a hectoring tone that feels chillingly familiar to his current political rhetoric, growl phrases like 'Hitler was right' or 'Gas them. ' This was not an isolated incident but part of a pattern, a behavioral tapestry woven with racial slurs; Ettedgui recalls hearing him routinely call other students 'Paki' or 'Wog,' punctuating his bigotry with the command to 'go home.' This portrait is further detailed by Tim France, another alumnus from the college's combined cadet force, who paints an image of a youth habitually giving the Nazi salute and strutting around classrooms as if on a personal parade ground, his renditions of a racist anthem titled 'Gas ’em all' serving as a grotesque soundtrack to his adolescent posturing. The critical question this raises transcends the individual and strikes at the heart of democratic accountability: to what extent does a leader's formative character, especially one marred by such overt racism and antisemitism, inform their public life and fitness to govern? Voters have an undeniable right to a fuller picture, a complete biography that includes these formative chapters, for they often reveal the foundational beliefs upon which public policy and national sentiment are later built.The duty of the interviewer, the journalist, the political opponent, is therefore not to let these matters rest as 'youthful indiscretions' but to press relentlessly for the unvarnished truth, to connect the dots between the boy in the cadet force uniform and the man seeking political power. This is not about cancel culture or holding individuals to an impossible standard of childhood purity; it is about understanding a consistent pattern of behavior.When such allegations emerge, they demand a rigorous, empathetic investigation into the social and institutional environments that permitted them—what was the culture at Dulwich College that allowed such conduct to become, in the words of witnesses, 'habitual'? The personal impact on those who were targeted, the psychological toll of being subjected to such venom during one's formative years, must be centered in this analysis. We must ask how these early displays of prejudice align with Farage's subsequent political career, his rhetoric on immigration, and his positioning on the world stage.The past matters not as a trap but as a lens, a crucial tool for evaluating the authenticity, empathy, and moral compass of those who aspire to lead. In an era where social policies and the very fabric of community are under constant negotiation, ignoring such a foundational part of a leader's story is an abdication of our collective responsibility to build a society that is truly inclusive and just.

#Nigel Farage

#racism

#antisemitism

#school allegations

#political scandal

#editorial picks news

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