Top Law Officer Calls On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Antisemitic and Racist Behaviour.

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

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He noted that the politician's "constantly changing" statements had been unconvincing.

“During his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Come to Light

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

One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either targets of or saw deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

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

Critics have highlighted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also cite his failure to discipline a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His constantly changing story about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He added: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he urgently needs confront the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we should not let it to ever become legitimised in public life.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the release of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later altered his position in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Yes.”

He said that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and harm anybody”. Farage later released a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”