🔗 Share this article

The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his past behaviour. He added that the leader's "constantly changing" denials had been unconvincing.

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

New Allegations Emerge

A series of inquiries last month outlined the statements of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He approached a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

Since then, others have come forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either subject to or saw deeply offensive actions by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were misremembering.

Observers have noted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his responses.

They also point to his failure to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

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

He continued: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he must acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Bigotry in all its forms is anathema to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters before the release of the investigation, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an interview, remarking: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”