🔗 Share this article

The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his past behaviour. He added that the leader's "shifting" statements had been less than credible.

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

New Allegations Surface

A series of inquiries last month documented the testimony of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

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

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That happened to 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.”

Since then, additional individuals have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either victims of or witnesses to deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the accusers were not telling the truth.

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

They also cite his failure to reprimand a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the remarks.

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

He continued: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have all forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he has to acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a particular way to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters before the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led this behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his stance in an interview, stating: “Did I say things decades ago that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a further comment: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, so long ago.”