Top Law Officer Urges Reform UK Leader to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic and Racist Behaviour.

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

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.

“During his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month outlined the statements of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That included me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

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

The behaviour they described relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

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

They also reference his reluctance to discipline a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the statements.

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

He continued: “Suggesting that 20 people have somehow forgotten the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he has to acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

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

“It says a lot how 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 not to say something,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an appearance, remarking: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Possibly.”

He said that he had “never directly really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later put out a further comment: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”