🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He commented that the politician's "constantly changing" explanations had been less than credible.

“In his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

Further Testimonies 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 "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have stepped forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either subject to or saw deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted relate to the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals 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 responses.

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He added: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must confront the anxieties 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 principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in public life.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” 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 understand as being drafted in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the release of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an discussion, stating: “Did I say things decades ago that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”