🔗 Share this article

The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He commented that the politician's "shifting" explanations had been less than credible.

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

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A published report last month documented the statements of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three occasions; questioning me 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 come forward; about 20 people have now claimed they were either victims of or witnesses to hurtful actions by Farage.

The behaviour they outlined relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers were misremembering.

Commentators have noted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also cite his inability to discipline a party member, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Claiming that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he has to confront the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Racism in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in politics.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “speak out” 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 recognise as being written in a specific manner to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the release of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an interview, remarking: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later released a further comment: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”