🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his actions as a youth. He noted that the leader's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

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

Further Testimonies Emerge

A series of inquiries last month documented the statements of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That involved me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; about 20 people have now claimed they were either victims of or saw highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers were being untruthful.

Critics have noted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also cite his failure to sanction a party member, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“His constantly changing story about his behaviour to his peers [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Question of Character

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he urgently needs confront the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in society.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

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

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s legal team stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later altered his position in an appearance, remarking: “Have I said things as a youth that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, so long ago.”