🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who assert he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been difficult to believe.

“Throughout his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A recent investigation last month detailed the statements of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from a private college.

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

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

“He walked up to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That included me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

Since then, more people have come forward; about 20 people have now stated they were either victims of or observed hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

The incidents they outlined span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were being untruthful.

Critics have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his statements.

They also point to his reluctance to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

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

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he has to address the fears of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in politics.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage subsequently released a further comment: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, so long ago.”