🔗 Share this article

The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "constantly changing" denials had been unconvincing.

“In his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Surface

A series of inquiries last month documented the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That included me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have come forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either targets of or saw hurtful actions by Farage.

The alleged events they described cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Evolving Explanations

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were misremembering.

Commentators have noted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his responses.

They also point to his failure to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have somehow misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he urgently needs address the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we must not permit it to ever become normalised in public life.”

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

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a certain style to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an interview, saying: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, decades in the past.”