🔗 Share this article

The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his past behaviour. He noted that the politician's "constantly changing" denials had been difficult to believe.

“Throughout his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

New Allegations Emerge

A published report last month detailed the testimony of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

After the story broke, others have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either victims of or witnesses to hurtful actions by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the individuals were being untruthful.

Commentators have noted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also point to his reluctance to sanction a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He continued: “Suggesting that a group of people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he must acknowledge the fears of the Jewish community, and apologise to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we must not permit it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like 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 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 report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his position in an discussion, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a further comment: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”