Attorney General Calls On Reform UK Leader to Apologise Over Claimed Racism and Antisemitism.
The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their school days.
Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their descriptions of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "evolving" statements had been unconvincing.
“During his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.
Fresh Claims Surface
A recent investigation last month documented the statements of several ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.
One, a former pupil, described that a 13-year-old Farage "came 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 gas showers”.
Another minority ethnic pupil alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.
“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That included me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you answered you were from.”
Following the initial report, additional individuals have emerged; about 20 people have now claimed they were either targets of or saw highly inappropriate actions by Farage.
The alleged events they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.
Changing Stories
The political figure has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were misremembering.
Critics have pointed out that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.
They also point to his failure to discipline a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the statements.
“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer stated.
He added: “Arguing that 20 people have somehow forgotten the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."
Call for Leadership
“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate 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 stated.
“Bigotry in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in politics.”
In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” 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 crafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she remarked.
Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments
In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.
Farage later appeared to change his position in an interview, saying: “Have I said things decades ago that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Possibly.”
He said that he had “never directly sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”