Don’t exploit Christianity, church leader warns Tommy Robinson

The Church must resist the exploitation of Christianity by far-right populists such as Tommy Robinson, a bishop has said ahead of a carols event organised by the anti-migrant activist.

The Right Reverend Arun Arora, the bishop of Kirkstall and the Church of England’s (C of E) co-lead on racial justice, has warned that the Church must act to “resist the capture of Christian language and symbols by populist forces seeking to exploit the faith for their own political ends”.

The C of E is to launch a poster campaign aimed at confronting the increasing use of Christianity for a nationalist, anti-migrant agenda.

The posters, which will go on display at bus stops, say “Christ has always been in Christmas” and “Outsiders welcome”. They are part of a package of resources available for local churches to download and display in response to far-right rhetoric.

A coalition of church groups called the Joint Public Issues Team, including the C of E, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist church and the United Reformed church, have put together a “rapid response” resource for churches, with a call to focus particularly on Sunday 14 December – the day after Tommy Robinson’s Whitehall event.

Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has organised a follow-up event to his huge Unite the Kingdom march, which saw more than 100,000 people turn out for what was billed as a “free speech” protest and included Elon Musk addressing the crowd, railing against the “woke mind virus”.

Police were assaulted after violence flared, with dozens of arrests made.

This time he has organised an event called “United for Christ this Christmas”, which promises bible readings, live music, and faith testimonies. He is aiming to “put Christ back into Christmas”, according to details posted to social media platform X/Twitter.

Speaking about Tommy Robinson’s campaign to “reclaim” Christmas, Bishop Arun said: “I rejoice that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon has recently come to faith in prison. Having experienced the wide mercy of God’s grace, Stephen does not now have the right to deny it to others.

“Having embraced and accepted God’s welcome, he can’t now restrict it from others who may be equally lost. Nor does he have the right to subvert the faith so that it serves his purposes rather than the other way round.”

He warned: “We must confront and resist the capture of Christian language and symbols by populist forces seeking to exploit the faith for their own political ends. It is incumbent upon the church – in the recent words of Rowan Williams – ‘to challenge the story that every migrant approaching our shores is an unfriendly alien with unintelligible and hostile values’.

“The danger for a Church that fails to act is that we are diminished to a people who offer religious observance as an alternative to an active pursuit of justice and righteousness.

“As we approach Christmas and recall the Holy Family’s own flight as refugees, we reaffirm our commitment to stand alongside others in working for an asylum system that is fair, compassionate, and rooted in the dignity of being human – when Christ took on flesh – which is at the heart of the Christmas message.”

Since coming out of prison in May this year, Mr Robinson has been using Christianity in his messaging, with Christian symbols such as wooden crosses common at the first Unite the Kingdom rally in September.

UKIP’s leader Nick Tenconi also intertwines Christianity with his party’s anti-migrant politics, thrusting Christian identity politics to the forefront of the organisation that used to be the home of Nigel Farage.

Mr Tenconi is also a key figure within Turning Point UK, a right-wing student political group linked to the deceased Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.

While Mr Robinson is organising his carols event for 13 December, an initiative called Shine Your Light is aiming for 200,000 Christians to sing carols in public spaces across the UK and Ireland over the same weekend.

Kremlin demands ‘radical changes’ to peace plans despite US optimism

Russia has signalled that “radical changes” are needed to the US-Ukraine peace plan despite a US envoy saying that the end to the war is “really really close”.

President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov was quoted by Russia media on Sunday saying that the United States would have to “make serious, I would say, radical changes to their papers” on Ukraine. He did not clarify what changes Moscow wanted Washington to make.

However US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg told a defence forum that a deal to end the Ukraine war was “really close” and depending on resolving two issues. These are the future of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the future of the Donbas region.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that the “next steps” for talks with the United States about post-war Ukraine have been agreed.

In a post to social media platform X, Mr Zelensky said that he had had a call with president Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to catch-up about the third day of talks.

England don’t get it and reaction to Ashes loss leaves a bitter taste

Well, don’t say it out loud.

“Leading into this Test match,” Brendon McCullum said after the conclusion of a brutal second Ashes Test for England, falling 2-0 behind Australia. “I actually think we overprepared, to be honest.”

A bookmark moment for Ashes obituaries everywhere. The leader and co-founder of Bazball, alongside Ben Stokes, was hard on himself and the team, making light of a galling defeat that all but ends England’s hopes Down Under, falling to an eight-wicket loss. People had waited so long for this. The referendum on a new style of play, contested in a box-office series between cricket’s two oldest enemies. And after six days on the pitch – it’s all but done.

People respond to setbacks differently. The point of this England team is to wear international cricket lightly while understanding its gravitas. A nigh-on impossible tightrope to navigate, but an admirable one, nonetheless. “Make sure the top two inches are right,” has become the group’s newest catchphrase. It makes sense. Cricket is a mentally gruelling game.

But leadership lives in diplomacy as well. The ability to read a room. This is the leader of a team who, rightly or wrongly, has a reputation of the 11 men who like a beer and a round of golf with a side of cricket. A team that has already received criticism for only playing one warm-up fixture ahead of the tour and for skipping a two-day game in Canberra. Don’t say, after scheduling two extra days of training ahead of this Test, that you had actually overprepared. People will laugh at you. The way this tour is going, jobs are on the line, and things are hitting the fan, so keep people onside.

McCullum and Stokes are bound at the hip. They stay on each other’s message, not through media training, but a genuine shared belief of how the game could be played, if only the rest of us could understand. Tonight, their message parted ways.

“There is a saying here that Australia is not for weak men,” said an emotional and at times bereft Ben Stokes when asked how England would respond. “A dressing room that I am captain of is not a place for weak men either.

“I said last night, we are where we are…I just wanted us to fight, just show some fight and we’ll see where we are.

“Nothing’s guaranteed in life, and nothing’s guaranteed in sport, but as long as you walk out there and think in your head. ‘I’m going to fight all the way to the end here,’ that’s all you can focus on.

“What you saw from Will Jacks and me was from me saying, anyone who’s got responsibility left in this game just show fight.”

And McCullum?

“Ehhh, I think we’ll probably have a beer tonight.”

One man is wearing this defeat lighter than the other.

This team has never done things they don’t believe in to appease outside noise. But with the captain delivering several raw media interactions, the difference in tone was staggering.

Stokes himself was asked about McCullum’s comments after he spoke to the written press following a long delay, where he went to the changing room to talk to his team. Normally, captains are keen to knock off all media duties as quickly as possible before returning to the rooms. Here, he spoke to TV and radio, then saw the need to return to his shellshocked England team and speak, before completing his final media duties.

“There’s a lot of training that you see where you’re just doing it for the sake of doing it,” he said when asked about McCullum’s comments. “You’re doing it to look right, to be doing the right things, whereas actually you’re not achieving anything out of it.

“There’s a saying that ‘are you going to train to train, or are you going to train to dominate’. I like to train to dominate, and so does this team.”

Since the pair took over, McCullum has always been the one to deliver the good and bad news to individuals. Whether they have been selected or whether they have been dropped. It is not new that the pair have taken on different parental roles in the group, but it is where mum and dad have sounded so different.

The fear you can see emanating from Stokes is that his men aren’t up for the fight. To oversimplify Bazball, the message to the team is ‘play well’. Put pressure on at times to put pressure on, and absorb pressure when it is time to absorb pressure. On the biggest stage, his men have been faltering.

“I think a lot of it comes down to not being able to stand up to the pressure of this game when the game is on the line,” he said. “In small passages, we have been able to bring the game back into some kind of control and then let it slip away.”

The team now go on a mid-series break to nearby Noosa, an idyllic beach town that attracts the rich and famous of Australia. The optics, again, will be poor when, perhaps, Ben Duckett and Brydon Carse are pictured on a boogie board. But they have to go somewhere, and if this team is in need of anything at the moment, it is to pick themselves back up after a harrowing few days. It is something Stokes is all too aware of.

“It’d be completely understandable if there were some guys who were feeling the pressure,” he said.

“I’m not someone who is afraid to go and check on everyone if I feel like I need to. We need everyone to be pretty switched on and if there are any worries, if there are any doubts to what we have to come up in the next three or four weeks, I need to sort that out and help the guys get through that.

“Sometimes I feel like if you just presume that someone’s OK, it’s pretty dangerous, I guess. You can be putting on a front to avoid those tough, difficult conversations.”

On a day where Stokes spoke to let it all out, he told an anecdote following the Perth defeat where Joe Root came up to him after scores of 0 and 8 and apologised for his role in the defeat and that he’d get him a big hundred in Brisbane. Stokes told him to never apologise, but Root scored the hundred anyway.

The Ashes is the biggest series of these players’ lives. And when it’s all on the line, it’s important to get the tone right.

Tourists among 25 dead after fire tears through packed nightclub

At least 25 people have died in a fire that tore through the dance floor of a nightclub in India’s popular holiday destination of Goa.

The fire erupted from a gas cylinder explosion in the club’s kitchen at midnight on Sunday. Four tourists were among those killed, while as many as 14 were members of kitchen staff.

The incident took place at Birch by Romeo Lane, a popular club in Arpora village in North Goa, located 25km from the state capital Panaji.

About 100 people were on the packed dance floor when the fire erupted, witnesses said, adding that some ran downstairs to the club’s kitchen to try and escape the fire but got trapped along with staff.

The fire has been extinguished, officials said on Sunday morning, and an inquiry has been ordered into what caused the fire.

An eyewitness told BBC News that it appeared to be a usual Saturday night during the tourist season, until he heard screams.

“I was outside the club when I heard screams. I didn’t initially understand what was going on. In a bit, it became clear that a massive fire had broken out. Nobody could do much. The scenes were just horrific,” the man said.

“There was a sudden commotion as the flames started erupting. We rushed out of the club only to see that the entire structure was up in flames,” Fatima Shaikh, a tourist from Hyderabad, told the PTI news agency.

A chef from a nearby venue said people from all over the country, as well as Nepali nationals, work in different clubs in Goa. “I am really worried about some people whom I knew at the club. Their phones are off,” he told the BBC.

Goa’s chief minister, Pramod Sawant, said preliminary investigations indicated that the club “did not follow fire safety norms”.

“I am ordering an inquiry on the incident,” he added.

An MP from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a safety audit of all clubs in Goa in wake of the fire. “Tourists have always considered Goa a very safe destination, but the fire incident is very disturbing, and such incidents should not happen in the future,” Michael Lobo said.

Prime minister Narendra Modi called the incident deeply saddening and said he spoke with Sawant about the situation. He said the state government “is providing all possible assistance to those affected” and offered his condolences to the victims’ families.

Mr Modi announced compensation of Rs 200,000 (£1,666) would be paid to the families of each of those who died, and Rs 50,000 (£416) for the injured.

President Draupati Murmu, in a statement, said she was “deeply pained by the tragic fire incident in North Goa district resulting in the loss of precious lives”.

“My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. May they find strength during this difficult time. I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured.”

Accidents involving gas cylinders aren’t uncommon in India and often result in casualties, underlining the need for authorities to implement stringent safety protocols and regulatory oversight.

The western coastal state of Goa is one of India’s most popular tourist destinations, known for its sandy beaches and nightlife.

Trump reportedly ‘starting to tire’ of controversies around Hegseth

President Donald Trump is starting to grow weary of the ongoing controversies plaguing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to a new report.

While the president has stood by Hegseth in public, he has shown less enthusiasm behind closed doors, The Atlantic reported Friday, citing several unnamed sources familiar with White House discussions.

“[Trump] is starting to tire of the scandals surrounding Hegseth and does not push back when others suggest Hegseth is not up for the job, an outside adviser to the White House and a former senior administration official told us,” The Atlantic reported.

An unnamed senior administration told the outlet it’s been a “rough week for Pete.”

Spokespeople for the White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Independent.

The president’s apparent dissatisfaction comes as the Pentagon faces scrutiny for authorizing a second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean on September 2. The follow-up strike — referred to by some as a double tap — was launched after two survivors were seen clinging to the wrecked vessel.

On Thursday, Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, the Navy SEAL officer who leads U.S. Special Operations Command, showed lawmakers footage of the lethal strikes and answered questions.

Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters the footage was “one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.” In contrast, Tom Cotton, GOP chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the strikes “righteous” and “entirely lawful.”

Hegseth, on Tuesday, said the attack took place within “the fog of war” and said Bradley acted “within his authority and the law.”

Beyond the double-tap controversy, Hegseth has drawn broader criticism for his campaign targeting suspected traffickers, which has resulted in at least 86 deaths. Some lawmakers and human rights organizations have labeled the attacks illegal, alleging they are being used to put pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Republicans, however, have largely backed the strikes, arguing they help stem the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.

This week, the Defense Department’s inspector general also released the findings from an investigation into Hegseth’s use of a Signal chat to post details about a strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The report concluded that the former FOX News’ anchor’s actions could have put U.S. personnel in harm’s way. In a discussion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Saturday, Hegseth said he doesn’t “live with any regrets” over the his use of Signal.

President Trump has publicly backed the Pentagon chief, telling reporters Tuesday that “Pete is doing a great job.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also defended the military’s second strike in September. However, behind closed doors, things could be different, The Atlantic report claims.

“Trump has not been happy that a number of Republicans on Capitol Hill are using Hegseth’s record as a reason to stand up to the White House, a further sign of cracks in what had until recently been unwavering GOP fealty to Trump,” the outlet said.

This week, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told CNN that Hegseth was wrong to claim the inspector general’s report on his use of a Signal chat had exonerated him.

“No one can rationalize that as an exoneration,” Tillis said. “We know that mission information was outside of the classified setting that it was trusted to be in.”

On Friday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul called on Hegseth to testify under oath about the boat strikes.

“I think that Congress, if they had any kind of gumption at all, would not be allowing this administration to summarily execute people that are suspected of a crime,” he told The Independent.

Still, a number of Republicans have stood by Hegseth and have argued the Pentagon is operating fine under his leadership. And a senior administration official told The Atlantic that the president cannot afford to fire Hegseth and endure another Senate confirmation battle.

“The people around the president have always sensed that Hegseth isn’t really qualified for the job,” this official said. “But he’s redeemed himself in the eyes of the president because he is truly devoted to Trump.”

They added: “That goes a long way. Taking Pete, with all his baggage, is just how it’s gonna be.”

At the same time, Trump has given no indication the boat strikes will slow down. Instead, he suggested the military campaign could escalate.

“Very soon we’re going to start doing it on land too,” the president said on Wednesday.

Perfect portraits: from groups to selfies and candid pics, expert tips

Portrait photography has come a long way from the days where everyone needed to be smiling directly into the camera, as a flash bulb popped.

And in fact, following on from an era where social media sites offered very curated, sometimes heavily filtered snapshots of our lives, more natural, candid images that really show off our personalities and experiences are now very much on trend. Think authentic photos of genuine moments where no-one is really paying attention to the camera. Instead they’re focused on enjoying what’s happening and the people they are with. For example, friends around a table enjoying a drink and a chat. Families engaged in a favourite activity. Photos that look like a glimpse into someone’s normal every day.

The best way to capture these in-the-moment shots? On a mobile: our ever-present, hand-held, do-everything device that has steadily taken over photography in the 26 years since the first camera phone appeared. Samsung’s newest device, the Galaxy S25 FE offers a wealth of photography-first features, from multiple cameras, lenses and wide angle settings, to in-built AI technology that will help you take the best possible pictures, then easily edit them afterwards. And as a photographer who runs masterclasses in mobile photography I couldn’t wait to try it out.

The phone itself is slim and lightweight, which makes it so much easier to hold steady, for clear, crisp, blur-free images, and take discreet, candid snaps.

Of course, we all have friends, family members and even pets who love performing for the camera. But for those who are a bit more reluctant to step into the frame, the Galaxy S25 FE offers a whole host of easy-to-use, fun AI features that will have even the most camera-shy feeling completely confident and ready for their close-up.

Samsung’s Drawing Assist function is a prime example and was an absolute hit with my kids, transforming our Sunday afternoon walk from a litany of moaning and dragging feet into a fun-filled adventure involving a lucky escape from the shark that apparently now lives in the park pond, and flying through the air with some giant balloons.

And all it took was a few simple, if strategically positioned snaps and some quick sketches using the Sketch to Image* function when editing the photo. This works best when you have some space in the frame around your subjects so you can easily draw what you want to add. In the shark image, for example, we needed enough water to the left of my kids for the shark to emerge from.

In the photo where the children are flying with the balloons, I needed them to be high up against the sky, and I also wanted the trees visible to add some context to the story we were trying to tell. They’re on top of the boulders, but I had to crouch down on the ground to cut out the houses in the background. By using the Generative Edit** function I was then able to replace the boulders with trees and then used Sketch to Image to draw in some balloons to make it look like they were floating away.

You don’t need to be an amazing artist for Sketch to Image to work well either, just enough line and shape for the app to recognise what you want to add into your image. The only limit here is your imagination and creativity. Involving the kids in some fun photography also meant that I got to capture some real, candid moments of them in the beautiful Autumn sunshine, with none of the usual complaints.

While playing around with reality can be fun, the Galaxy S25FE’s other AI features can also be used to make more subtle adjustments to enhance your images.

Just a few minutes of work with the Generative Edit function on a day out with a friend, helped me erase two unwanted photobombers from a photo (in which she perfectly co-ordinated with the graffitied heart wall in Borough Market). While removing some distracting weedkiller from the table where my cat was basking in the sunshine ensured the perfect pic where I can really appreciate him in all his fluffy glory.

Aside from fun and helpful editing functions, the phone’s AI technology is also running in the background to give your photos a boost, whatever and whenever you are capturing them.

This is great when you’re shooting challenging lighting conditions, for example at night. Dark, grainy and blurred photos are a thing of the past, with Samsung’s Nightography feature. Tapping the yellow moon icon that appears in dim lighting will enable this clever function which captures multiple images and then uses AI to blend them together to create one sharper, brighter image.

This can take a few seconds, so you’ll need to keep very still when using this feature – if you can, brace your arms on a table and hold the phone with two hands to keep the camera as steady as possible. It also helps if your subject is still, so this is more for capturing adults and older kids than snapping a restless pet or fast-moving child.

For these trickier subjects, from youngsters to four-legged friends, the excellent autofocus on the device makes for pin-sharp portraits rendered in high definition. And if you couple that with the outstanding Samsung colour profile you get beautifully saturated, nicely contrasted images which really pop. All the colours are beautifully rendered and all skin tones (and fur tones) are true to life. No filters are needed here.

And this is not just true of portraits you take of other people. The 12 MP camera lens on the front of the phone makes for gorgeously rendered, high resolution selfies with a variety of crop options, so you can find the perfect angle or image composition.

Taking a selfie at a 1:1 square crop, as well as the standard 3:4 crop option means you can easily include a friend or family member in your photo. And there’s a lovely little feature where you can get the lens to zoom out a little by tapping the ‘two person’ icon to provide a little extra space.

The 9:16 crop option means you can opt for a more flattering, longer and thinner photo while the full frame cop allows you a more zoomed-in selfie.

And if you want to take your selfies to another level, the option to add a little skin toning and smoothing effect and iron out any wrinkles (or in my case remove evidence of a sleepless night) is one of the additional features that makes the selfie camera stand out!

The excellent battery life means you don’t need to worry about it lasting, even after a few hours of photo fun. And when your battery does run down, lightning fast charging will see you back at 60 per cent in just 30 minutes, so you don’t have to wait long until you are good to go again.

Overall, whether it is taking vibrant portraits of yourself or capturing creative, candid images of the people (and pets) in your lives, making memories you’ll want to share is easy and fun with the Galaxy S25 FE.

Kirsty Hamilton is a portrait photographer – find out more at her website and on Instagram.

To find out more about the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE visit Samsung

*Samsung account login and network connection may be required for certain AI features.

**Samsung account login is required. Requires network connection.

Minister shuts down David Lammy over joining EU customs union

A cabinet minister has shut down deputy prime minister David Lammy after he suggested that rejoining the customs union could increase economic growth and repeatedly refused to rule out reversing Brexit.

Asked about his remarks, work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden told Sky News the prime minister has been “pretty clear” that the UK won’t be rejoining the customs union.

Sir Keir Starmer is currently attempting to ramp up his “reset” of relations with the bloc as part of an attempt to boost growth, but he has insisted that the government’s “clear red lines in relation to the single market and the customs union” remain in place.

But in an interview last week, Mr Lammy refused seven times to rule out reversing Brexit, arguing that leaving the EU badly damaged the UK economy and saying Labour should consider closer integration with Brussels.

While he said that rejoining the customs union was not currently government policy, he said it was self-evident that other countries had seen growth after doing so.

Asked about Mr Lammy’s comments, Mr McFadden told Sky News: “Well, we’ve just conducted three trade deals this year, and that’s a pretty big difficulty if you’re going to join a customs union.”

Asked whether the deputy prime minister was wrong in his remarks, the work and pensions secretary said: “I think the prime minister has made that pretty clear in terms of the grand architecture of EU. By grand architecture, I mean the single market and the customs union.”

He added: “But what I do want to stress is we do have a different approach to the European Union from the last government. We’re not nationalists.

“This Ukraine issue…has really bought brought European leaders together. We don’t seek to blame the EU for everything, and we do want a closer, more productive relationship where we can take away some of those costs and delays of the Tory Brexit.”

Labour’s manifesto pledged not to rejoin the single market or customs union, but pressure over the issue is mounting from MPs and advisers following poor growth forecasts.

Mr Lammy, who is also justice secretary, was asked on The News Agents podcast about the idea of being part of the customs union again, said: “That is not currently our policy. That’s not currently where we are.

“But you can see countries like Turkey with a customs union seemingly benefiting and seeing growth in their economy, and again, that’s self-evident.”

He added that his comments were “subject to collective responsibility”, implying that he should follow Sir Keir’s position.

In the wake of the deputy prime minister’s remarks, new polling showed that two-thirds of 2024 Labour voters would rather Sir Keir abandon his Brexit red lines and join a customs union with the European Union than raise taxes on working people.

It comes after ministers ramped up their attacks on Brexit in the lead up to last month’s tax rising Budget, saying the decision to leave the EU had an even bigger impact on Britain’s economy than critics predicted.

Giving a speech on Monday, Sir Keir said it would be “utterly reckless” to use the UK’s exit from the EU as a template for future foreign policy.

“The Brexit vote was a fair, democratic expression, and I will always respect that. But how it was sold and delivered was wrong”, he said.

“Wild promises were made to the British people and not fulfilled. We are still dealing with the consequences today in our economy.”

He added: “To consider Brexit a template for our future foreign policy is utterly reckless.”

Ex-equalities watchdog head questions Farage’s response to racism row

The former head of the equalities watchdog has questioned Nigel Farage’s response to allegations of racism during his teenage years, asking why he has not offered “an unreserved apology for any distress caused”.

The Reform UK leader has faced allegations he engaged in racist and antisemitic behaviour while he was a pupil at Dulwich College, a top private school in south London.

Speaking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, former Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) chairwoman Baroness Kishwer Falkner said she was “confused and disturbed” by the allegations.

Describing the claims as “ghastly on paper”, Baroness Falkner said: “The one thing that slightly confuses me about him, and I hear his contextualisation of it all. Why can’t he just offer an unreserved apology for any distress caused?

“I just don’t get it. It seems to me that that would be the most genuine thing to say if he’s genuinely not a racist.”

Mr Farage has faced repeated questions over the allegations, which include claims that he told a Jewish pupil “Hitler was right” and “gas them”, and told a Black pupil: “That’s the way back to Africa.”

The Clacton MP has denied the allegations, variously saying they were “categorically” untrue and at other times saying he “would never, ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way”.

In a press conference last week, he continued to deny he ever made racist remarks in a “malicious or nasty way” while accusing broadcasters reporting on the claims of “double standards”.

Mr Farage repeatedly shouted the name of controversial comedian Bernard Manning at journalists as part of a bizarre rant after he was asked about the allegations.

The comedian, the self-styled king of the offensive joke, repeatedly came under fire for the content of his act.

The Reform leader also read out a letter from another former pupil saying Mr Farage was “neither aggressive nor racist”.

Reading from 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 racially abuse anyone.”

Mr Farage’s former classmate Peter Ettedgui, whose Jewish grandparents escaped Nazi Germany, is among those who have accused the politician of making racist remarks to him during their school days.

Mr Ettedgui has claimed that Mr Farage “repeatedly” approached him and said “Hitler was right”, while they were pupils at the school.

Baroness Falkner’s intervention comes after a group of Holocaust survivors this week called on the Reform leader to apologise over the allegations.

The 11 signatories, some of whom have survived death camps, write that they “understand the danger of hateful words” and call on the Clacton MP to admit whether he said them or if he is accusing those who say he did of lying.