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

The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He noted that the politician's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.

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

Fresh Claims Surface

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either victims of or witnesses to deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they described cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were being untruthful.

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his statements.

They also point to his reluctance to sanction a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Arguing that a group of people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he has to address the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in society.”

In a separate interview, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a true statesman.

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

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an interview, remarking: “Did I say things as a youth that you could view as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”