🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He added that the politician's "constantly changing" denials had been less than credible.

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

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A published report last month detailed the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Since then, others have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either targets of or saw highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they described span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

Observers have noted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also reference his inability to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Claiming that a group of people have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he urgently needs acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in politics.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being written in a particular way to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an interview, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Yes.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”