🔗 Share this article

The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his past behaviour. He added that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been less than credible.

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

Further Testimonies Surface

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of several former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil alleged that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have come forward; about 20 people have now stated they were either targets of or saw highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted span 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 claimed the former classmates were being untruthful.

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

They also reference his failure to discipline a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the comments.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Arguing that a group of people have all misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Question of Character

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

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

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a certain style to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things as a youth that you could view as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He added that he had “never directly sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards released a further comment: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”