Dulwich College Alumnus Accuses Nigel Farage of Racist Abuse During School Years
A former pupil at Dulwich College has publicly accused Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of directing a racist remark toward him as a child, alleging Farage told him, “That’s the way back to Africa.” The accusation comes as Farage faces intense scrutiny over allegations of past racist and antisemitic behavior, which he has vehemently denied.
Yinka Bankole, 54, came forward after watching Farage’s press conference on Thursday, where the Reform leader attempted to address the ongoing allegations stemming from a Guardian investigation. Bankole, who attended the prestigious south-east London school between 1980 and 1981, stated he felt compelled to share his experience after perceiving Farage’s response as a dismissal of the pain caused by his alleged actions.
Farage, during the press conference, maintained he had “never been racist or antisemitic with ‘malice’”. Instead, he criticized the BBC and ITV, accusing them of “double standards and hypocrisy” and referencing older television programs like Are You Being Served? and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum to illustrate his point. He also suggested he would boycott the BBC and questioned ITV’s decision to air comedian Bernard Manning in the 1970s.
Bankole, whose parents immigrated to the UK from Nigeria in the 1950s, described Farage’s response as “the most amazingly disingenuous example of the phrase ‘let he without sin cast the first stone’”, adding that it was “the final straw” that prompted him to speak out publicly.
He recounted a specific incident in the lower-school playground, where a 17-year-old Farage, towering over the nine-year-old Bankole, asked him, “Where are you from?” Bankole said that after offering a confused response, Farage replied, “‘That’s the way back to Africa,’ with an accompanying hand gesture pointing towards a place far away.”
According to Bankole, this wasn’t an isolated incident. Once his “existence as a target was established,” Farage “would wait at the lower-school gate, where I was dropped off for school, so as to repeat the vulgarity.” He vividly remembers “a look of hatred he had for me, seemingly simply for existing,” and feeling dehumanized, stating Farage appeared to show “no appreciation of my humanity and simply because of how I looked.”
Farage has acknowledged making comments during his school years that might be considered bigoted today, but insists he never made such statements “directly” to anyone or “with intent” to cause harm. Bankole challenges this characterization, stating, “I will leave it to the reader to decide whether this was ‘malicious or non-malicious’, ‘meant with intent or not with intent’, ‘direct or non-direct’. I know how I experienced it. It certainly felt malicious to me.”
Bankole is one of 28 former Dulwich College pupils who have come forward with allegations of offensive racist or antisemitic behavior by Farage. He had previously spoken to the Guardian anonymously but decided to reveal his identity following Farage’s public statements.
A legal representative for Reform UK has “categorically denied” that Farage “ever engaged in, condoned or led racist or antisemitic behaviour.” However, Farage has admitted to potentially making remarks in “banter” that could be viewed differently today, while continuing to deny any direct racist or antisemitic statements.
Bankole, who identifies as politically unaffiliated, emphasized the lasting impact of the experience. He questioned Farage’s assertion that it is “inconceivable” to recall events from over four decades ago, asking, “Can a victim of such abuse ever forget? I know I haven’t forgotten. I recognise his walk every time I see it on TV as that same walk that used to approach me.”
He expressed relief that he left Dulwich College after only a year, citing school fees and family relocation as contributing factors. However, he also admitted to being “terrified” by the thought of what might have happened had he remained, fearing the increased authority Farage would have wielded in subsequent years. The prospect of Farage gaining even more power, he said, is “truly a chilling thought.”
