Attorney General Urges Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic and Racist Behaviour.

The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He commented that the politician's "shifting" explanations had been less than credible.

“In his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Surface

A recent investigation last month documented the accounts of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; about 20 people have now claimed they were either subject to or witnesses to deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

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

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were being untruthful.

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also point to his inability to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He added: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he must address the fears of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Bigotry in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we must not permit it to ever become normalised in society.”

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

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an interview, saying: “Have I said things as a youth that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage later released a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”