🔗 Share this article

The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He noted that the politician's "evolving" denials had been less than credible.

“In his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A published report last month detailed the statements of over a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, described that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, more people have emerged; about 20 people have now stated they were either targets of or saw deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were being untruthful.

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

They also reference his failure to sanction a party member, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Arguing that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he must address the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would identify as being drafted in a particular way to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an discussion, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”