Top Law Officer Urges Reform UK Leader to Apologise Over Reported Racism and Antisemitism.

The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "shifting" explanations had been unconvincing.

“Throughout his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Surface

A published report last month documented the statements of several former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘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 pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That involved me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, more people have emerged; about 20 people have now alleged they were either targets of or saw deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

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

Evolving Explanations

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

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

They also reference his reluctance to sanction 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 expressed regret for the statements.

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

He went on to say: “Suggesting that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he has to address the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being written in a specific manner to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an appearance, stating: “Have I said things as a youth that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”