Top Law Officer Demands Reform UK Leader to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic and Racist Behaviour.

The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He added that the politician's "shifting" statements had been less than credible.

“Throughout his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

New Allegations Emerge

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

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a 13-year-old 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 stated that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

After the story broke, others have come forward; about 20 people have now stated they were either victims of or observed hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the individuals were not telling the truth.

Critics have noted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his statements.

They also cite his reluctance to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He went on to say: “Suggesting that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he urgently needs acknowledge the fears of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a particular way to communicate, but also not to say something,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

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

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