Top Law Officer Calls On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Antisemitic and Racist Behaviour.

The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to former schoolmates who assert he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his actions as a youth. He noted that the leader's "evolving" statements had been less than credible.

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

New Allegations Surface

A recent investigation last month documented the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That involved me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Since then, more people have emerged; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either victims of or witnesses to hurtful actions by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

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

They also cite his reluctance to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have somehow misremembered the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he must acknowledge the fears of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Bigotry in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an appearance, remarking: “Did I say things as a youth that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”