Nigel Farage has broken his silence nearly a week after he was accused by about 20 people of racism and antisemitism as a teenager, by saying he “never directly, really tried to go and hurt anybody”.

His remarks came after the publication of a detailed investigation by the Guardian in which many of his school contemporaries claimed to be victims of, or witnesses to, repeated incidents of deeply offensive behaviour.

The Reform party leader’s aides emphatically denied the allegations, saying that any “suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

In a broadcast interview on Monday, Farage appeared to give a more nuanced response when he was asked if he had racially abused fellow pupils at school.

He replied: “No, t

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