🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who assert he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He noted that the politician's "constantly changing" explanations had been unconvincing.

“During his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

New Allegations Surface

A series of inquiries last month detailed the testimony of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "came up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That involved me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, others have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either victims of or witnesses to hurtful conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the accusers were being untruthful.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.

They also cite his inability to sanction a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Arguing that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he has to acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

In a separate interview, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would identify as being written in a specific manner to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an discussion, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently released a further comment: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”