🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his past behaviour. He noted that the leader's "shifting" denials had been difficult to believe.

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

New Allegations Surface

A published report last month detailed the statements of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That included me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have come forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or observed highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they outlined span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were not telling the truth.

Commentators have noted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his statements.

They also cite his inability to discipline a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the statements.

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

He continued: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must confront the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly 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 accepted in politics.”

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

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

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters before the release of the report, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later altered his stance in an interview, stating: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Yes.”

He said that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently released a further comment: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, decades in the past.”