Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to reporters on the plane as he left for London for the G20 summit in South Africa where he will meet with world leaders
08:00, 21 Nov 2025Updated 10:38, 21 Nov 2025
Keir Starmer has accused Nigel Farage of being “spineless” when it comes to dealing with racism.
The PM demanded the Reform UK leader explain himself “as soon as possible” after alleged racist comments he made as a schoolboy were unearthed.
A former classmate said he recalls Mr Farage saying “Hitler was right” and made references to Nazi gas chambers at his private secondary school Dulwich College. Reform UK says the claims are part of a smear campaign against their boss.
Asked about the alleged comments on the way to the G20 summit in South Africa, Mr Starmer said Mr Farage has questions to answer on the allegations.
He said the party leader has “got a good track record” in failing to show leadership over this issue after not dealing with Reform MP Sarah Pochin’s “clearly racist” comments.
In October, Ms Pochin said it drives her “mad” to see TV adverts “full” of Black and Asian people. The Reform UK leader said the comments were “ugly” but claimed she was not intending to be racist.
Asked about Mr Farage’s alleged school comments, Mr Starmer said: “He needs to explain those comments. I put that challenge indirectly to him at Prime Minister’s Questions.
“He needs to explain the comments, or alleged comments that were made, and he needs to do that as soon as possible. He hasn’t got a good track record in relation to this because Sarah Pochin, his MP, made some clearly racist comments and Nigel Farage has done absolutely nothing about it.
“The man is spineless. If that had been someone in my party, I’d have dealt with it straight away.
“He needs to explain the latest allegations and whilst he’s at it he needs to explain why he’s too spineless to take action in relation to what is obvious racism in the comments of his fellow MP.
“So far he’s said absolutely nothing about it. He’s got plenty to say about plenty of things, apart from showing some leadership when it comes to racism.”