🔗 Share this article

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

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been less than credible.

“During his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

New Allegations Emerge

A series of inquiries last month documented the accounts of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, said that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

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

Since then, others have come forward; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either subject to or witnesses to hurtful actions by Farage.

The alleged events they described span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were not telling the truth.

Critics have pointed out that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his responses.

They also cite his failure to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

“His constantly changing story about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He added: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have somehow misremembered the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he has to acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a specific manner to say something, but also not to say something,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things as a youth that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently released a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”