Attorney General Calls On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Antisemitic and Racist Behaviour.

The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who assert he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "evolving" explanations had been unconvincing.

“In his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Further Testimonies Surface

A recent investigation last month documented the accounts of several former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That involved me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, others 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 outlined span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were being untruthful.

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

They also reference his failure to sanction a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He went on to say: “Suggesting that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must address the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how very 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 said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He said that he had “never directly attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards released a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, decades in the past.”