Attorney General Urges Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic and Racist Behaviour.

The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their school days.

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

“During his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

New Allegations Emerge

A recent investigation last month documented the statements of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including 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 similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, others have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either victims of or witnesses to hurtful actions by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" 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 in a wider sense in his responses.

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Suggesting that a group of people have all forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he must confront the fears of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a genuine leader.

“It says a lot 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 dodge the issue,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an interview, stating: “Did I say things as a youth that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage later issued a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, so long ago.”

Andrew Moore
Andrew Moore

A financial journalist with over a decade of experience covering global markets and economic policy.