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

The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

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

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

New Allegations Emerge

A series of inquiries last month documented the statements of several former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He approached a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That involved me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Since then, more people have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either victims of or saw highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they outlined span the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were not telling the truth.

Observers have pointed out that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also reference his failure to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He continued: “Arguing that 20 people have all misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he has to address the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the principles of this country and we must not permit it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a separate interview, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things as a youth that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Yes.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”