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

The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his alleged conduct. He noted that the politician's "shifting" statements had been difficult to believe.

“In his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Emerge

A published report last month outlined the accounts of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

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

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

“He approached a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That included me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have come forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either targets of or witnesses to deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The behaviour they described span the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were not telling the truth.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his denials.

They also point to his inability to discipline a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the comments.

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

He went on to say: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have somehow forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he has to confront the fears of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being written in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an discussion, 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 sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards released a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, so long ago.”