🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He noted that the politician's "shifting" explanations had been unconvincing.

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

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month outlined the accounts of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority stated that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil with two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have emerged; about 20 people have now alleged they were either victims of or saw highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they described cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were not telling the truth.

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

They also reference his inability to reprimand a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the statements.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Claiming that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he has to address the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Racism in all its forms is anathema to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in public life.”

In a other comments, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would identify as being drafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his stance in an discussion, saying: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”