Top Law Officer Calls On Reform UK Leader to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic and Racist Behaviour.
The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their school days.
Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He noted that the politician's "constantly changing" statements had been unconvincing.
“In his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.
Further Testimonies Come to Light
A published report last month documented the statements of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.
One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.
Another pupil from an ethnic minority stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.
“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”
After the story broke, more people have emerged; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either subject to or witnesses to deeply offensive conduct by Farage.
The incidents they recounted span 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 asserted the individuals were being untruthful.
Commentators have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his denials.
They also point to his reluctance to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the statements.
“His constantly changing story about his behaviour to his peers [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer stated.
He went on to say: “Claiming that 20 people have somehow 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 the top job, he has to confront the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.
“Bigotry in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in public life.”
In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a genuine leader.
“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would identify as being written in a certain style to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.
Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments
In formal correspondence prior to the release of the report, Farage’s legal team stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.
Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an discussion, saying: “Have I said things as a youth that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Possibly.”
He said that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage later released a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, decades in the past.”