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PA Media
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accused the BBC of "double standards" after being asked about racist and antisemitic comments he is alleged to have made as a teenager.
In an earlier BBC interview, the party's deputy leader Richard Tice dismissed the claims from Farage's former classmates as "made-up twaddle".
Asked if he agreed with his deputy, Farage said the Today programme interview was a "disgrace" and demanded the BBC apologise for 1970s TV shows such as "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" and the "The Black and White Minstrel Show," which he said were homophobic and racist.
The BBC has been contacted for a comment.
Last week, Peter Ettedgui, a former Jewish classmate of Farage's, told the BBC Farage had repeatedly said to him "Hitler was right" and "gas them" when they had been at Dulwich College together in the 1970s and early 1980s.
The BBC has also spoken to two former pupils who backed up Mr Ettedgui's accounts.
When previously asked about the comments, Farage has said: "Have I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter in a playground, that you can interpret in the modern light of day in some sort of way? Yes."
"I've never directly racially abused anybody. No."
During a press conference on Thursday, Farage was again asked about the accusations and whether he believed his old schoolmates were lying.
He first attacked the BBC's Today programme for their interview with Tice, saying it was "disgraceful" to frame a question linking himself to German dictator Adolf Hitler.
He went on to accuse the BBC of "hypocrisy" saying: "At the time I was alleged to have made these remarks, one of your most popular weekly shows was the Black and White Minstrel Show.
"The BBC was very happy to use blackface - not just in the Black and White Minstrels, they did it in It Ain't Half Hot Mum.
"I cannot put up with the double standards of the BBC about what I'm alleged to have said 49 years ago and what you were putting out on mainstream content.
"So I want an apology from the BBC for virtually everything you did throughout the 1970s and 80s."
The Black and White Minstrel Show, a programme where white performers painted their face black, ran from 1958 to 1978, getting peak audiences of 16 million.
Even at the time it was considered offensive with the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination submitting a petition for the show to be axed.
Farage also attacked ITV, describing the broadcaster as "the channel of Bernard Manning", referring to the comedian often accused of making racist jokes.
During the press conference, Farage also said he had received letters from people he was at school with including one former Jewish classmate.
Reading out the letter, he said: "While there was plenty of macho tongue-in-cheek schoolboy banter, it was humour, and yes, sometimes it was offensive... but never with malice.
"I never heard him [Farage] racially abuse anyone.
"If he had, he would have been reported and punished. He wasn't. The news stories are without evidence, except for belatedly, politically dubious recollections from nearly half a century ago.
"Back in the 1970s the culture was very different... especially at Dulwich.
"Lots of boys said things they'd regret today or just laugh at.
"Whilst Nigel stood out, he was neither aggressive nor a racist."
Responding to Tice's depiction of his claims as 'made up twaddle', Mr Ettedgui said: "Well over 20 former Dulwich pupils have now spoken of Farage's vile racist, antisemitic behaviour.
"Each individual piece of testimony has been separately sourced by journalists working for several major news outlets and has been rigorously checked by lawyers.
"All these accounts paint the exact same picture of the teenage Farage. His and Richard Tice's denials today are as offensive as the original abuse."
A Conservative spokesman said: "Nigel Farage just called a press conference and used it to rant at journalists over historic allegations of racism and antisemitism - allegations he has just admitted are true.
"Reform's one-man band is in chaos once again."
