Top Law Officer Calls On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Racism and Antisemitism.

The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his actions as a youth. He added that the politician's "shifting" denials had been less than credible.

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

New Allegations Emerge

A series of inquiries last month detailed the statements of several former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "came up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

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

Following the initial report, more people have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either subject to or witnesses to deeply offensive actions by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were being untruthful.

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

They also cite his reluctance to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His constantly changing story about his behaviour to his peers [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Suggesting that 20 people have somehow forgotten the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

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

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

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a specific manner to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an appearance, remarking: “Did I say things as a youth that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage later put out a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, decades in the past.”