🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been less than credible.

“In his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Fresh Claims Surface

A series of inquiries last month documented the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

“He approached a pupil with two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That included me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have stepped forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either subject to or observed deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they described relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

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

They also point to his reluctance to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Arguing that a group of people have somehow 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 has to address the fears of the Jewish people, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a particular way to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an discussion, stating: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He said that he had “never directly sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”