David Lammy spoke with Politics Live following Keir Starmer’s conference speech. (Image: BBC)

Sir Keir Starmer has called Reform’s plans racist. (Image: Getty)

“I will leave it for the public to come to their own judgements about someone who once flirted with the Hitler Youth when he was younger.”

He added: “That is for the public.

Mr Farage dismissed the allegations at the time as “complete baloney”.

“Yet another colleague described how, at a Combined Cadet Force (CCF) camp organised by the college, Farage and others had marched through a quiet Sussex village very late at night shouting Hitler-youth songs.”

Sir Keir Starmer said in his conference speech this aftertoon that there is “a moral line, and it isn’t just Farage who crosses it”.

“But if you throw bricks and smash up private property that’s not legitimate – that’s thuggery.”

He also stated that “this party is proud of our flags”, but “if they are painted alongside graffiti telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride – that’s racism”.

Anyone who argues that “people who have lived here for generations” should now be deported is “an enemy of national renewal”, the prime minister added.

Nigel Farage said Sir Keir’s branding of Reform plans as racist “will incite and encourage the radical left”, “directly threatens the safety” of campaigners and is an “absolute disgrace” in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder.

David Lammy makes bemusing claim that Nigel Farage ‘flirted with Hitler Youth’

David Lammy has faced criticism after claiming that Nigel Farage once “flirted with Hitler Youth” when he was a schoolboy, before subsequently acknowledging that the Reform UK leader had denied the allegations behind the remark.

The extraordinary exchange took place during the Labour Party conference, as senior Labour figures intensified their criticism of Reform UK and Farage over the party’s immigration policies.

Lammy, who was serving as deputy prime minister, was asked by the BBC whether he considered Farage to be racist. Rather than directly answering the question, Lammy said he would focus on Reform’s policies rather than the individual.

He then added that he would leave the public to make its own judgment about someone who had “once flirted with Hitler Youth when he was younger”.

The comment immediately drew attention because it appeared to refer to allegations about Farage’s school years that have circulated publicly for more than a decade.

The allegation was not presented as an established fact in the historical accounts surrounding it. It originated from claims concerning Farage’s time at Dulwich College in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

According to reporting by the Guardian, the background goes back to a letter written by a former English teacher at Dulwich College. The letter reportedly referred to accounts from other members of staff who claimed that Farage and other cadets had marched through a Sussex village while shouting Hitler Youth songs.

Those claims were later reported publicly, including by Channel 4 News in 2013, and have been disputed by Farage.

Farage has denied that he sang Hitler Youth songs and said he did not know the words to such songs. He has acknowledged that he was a provocative and difficult teenager who sometimes pushed the boundaries, but he has rejected the suggestion that he was a member of any extremist organisation.

That distinction became particularly important after Lammy’s intervention.

Following his initial BBC interview, Lammy appeared to clarify his position. Speaking again to the BBC, he acknowledged that Farage had denied the allegations.

“He has denied it, and so I accept that he has denied it,” Lammy said, adding that he wanted to clarify the position because Starmer had been emphasizing the importance of focusing on policies rather than individuals.

Lammy also said he had not been at school with Farage and therefore did not know what songs the future Reform leader had or had not sung.

The sequence created an unusual contrast. Lammy initially invoked the allegation while arguing that he was not interested in attacking Farage personally. He subsequently acknowledged the denial and accepted that the underlying claim was disputed.

The controversy unfolded during an already heated confrontation between Labour and Reform.

Keir Starmer had used his Labour conference speech to attack Reform’s immigration proposals, particularly its plans concerning indefinite leave to remain. Starmer described the policy as “racist” and “immoral”, while making clear in subsequent comments that he did not consider Farage or Reform voters themselves to be racist.

Starmer said he believed Reform voters could be motivated by concerns about Britain’s borders and frustration over the pace of change. His argument was that criticism should be directed at particular policies rather than used as a general description of everyone who supports the party.

That distinction was also relevant to Lammy’s comments.

The deputy prime minister said he was “playing the ball” rather than “playing the man”, but his reference to Farage’s teenage years inevitably shifted the discussion towards the Reform leader’s personal history.

Reform UK strongly objected to the remarks. A source described the claim as “disgusting and libellous”, according to reporting by the Guardian and the BBC.

The dispute also revived questions about what actually happened at Dulwich College.

The historical allegations are based largely on recollections and accounts attributed to former teachers, pupils and other people connected with the school. They do not amount to a straightforward documentary record establishing exactly what Farage did as a teenager.

The Guardian’s examination of the claims noted that recollections from former pupils and staff were mixed. Some described Farage as having expressed extreme or offensive views, while others remembered him differently.

Former headmaster David Emms, who had supported Farage’s appointment as a prefect, later defended his decision. He described the teenager as troublesome and provocative but said he viewed this as “naughtiness rather than racism”.

Other former pupils and staff provided substantially different recollections.

This mixture of testimony helps explain why the issue remains disputed decades later. It is possible to report that allegations were made without treating those allegations as proven facts.

Farage himself has acknowledged that he made provocative remarks as a teenager.

In comments reported in connection with the controversy, he said that he had been a “bolshie teenager” who pushed the boundaries of debate, while insisting that he had never belonged to an extremist organisation. He also rejected the specific allegation concerning Hitler Youth songs.

The episode therefore raises a broader question about how political figures should use allegations about events that allegedly occurred when an opponent was a teenager.

For Labour, the immediate political argument was supposed to be about Reform’s immigration proposals. Starmer had been seeking to distinguish between criticism of migration policy and attacks on individuals or groups.

For Reform, however, Lammy’s comments provided evidence that the political dispute was becoming personal.

The timing was particularly significant. Labour’s conference had featured repeated references to Farage, despite Reform not being the governing party and despite the Conservatives traditionally occupying the principal opposition position in Westminster politics.

Starmer had directly challenged Farage’s patriotism, arguing that the Reform leader did not believe in Britain’s future. Farage, in turn, accused the prime minister and Labour of using inflammatory language against Reform.

Lammy’s intervention added another layer to the dispute.

It also demonstrated the difficulty of separating policy arguments from personal political attacks. When a politician invokes an opponent’s teenage history, the focus can quickly move away from the legislation or policy originally under discussion.

The historical question remains one of competing accounts.

There is documented evidence that allegations concerning Farage and Hitler Youth songs were made. There is also documented evidence that Farage denied those allegations. Contemporary reporting has described the claims as allegations rather than established facts, and Lammy subsequently acknowledged Farage’s denial.

That is different from establishing that Farage actually participated in such activity.

The controversy also illustrates the importance of distinguishing between political rhetoric and verifiable evidence. Calling an allegation a fact can create a misleading impression when the underlying evidence remains disputed.

For Lammy, the comments were followed quickly by a clarification. For Farage and Reform, they became another point of criticism against the Labour government.

Meanwhile, the substantive political dispute over immigration remained unresolved.

Reform has argued for major changes to Britain’s immigration and settlement system. Labour has opposed elements of those proposals while insisting that concerns about immigration can be discussed without portraying migrants or political supporters as inherently unwelcome.

The disagreement is therefore likely to continue well beyond the conference controversy.

Lammy’s “Hitler Youth” remark may have generated considerable attention, but the underlying historical allegation is considerably more complicated than the brief political exchange suggested.

What can be established is that the claim has existed publicly for years, that it was based on recollections and allegations concerning Farage’s schooldays, that Farage denied the specific accusation, and that Lammy subsequently accepted that denial.

The episode ultimately became another example of the increasingly personal nature of political debate between Labour and Reform.

Rather than settling the historical question, Lammy’s intervention reopened it — while his subsequent clarification demonstrated why careful distinction between allegation, denial and established fact matters when discussing events from a political opponent’s teenage years.

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