🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his past behaviour. He noted that the leader's "shifting" denials had been unconvincing.

“Throughout his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Surface

A published report last month outlined the accounts of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil alleged that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have come forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either victims of or observed highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The incidents they described relate to the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were misremembering.

Observers have noted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also reference his failure to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have all forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he has to address the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Racism in all its forms is anathema to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in society.”

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being written in a particular way to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an discussion, stating: “Did I say things as a youth that you could view as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, so long ago.”