Attorney General Calls On Reform UK Leader to Apologise Over Alleged Racism and Antisemitism.
The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.
Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "constantly changing" denials had been less than credible.
“In his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.
New Allegations Surface
A recent investigation last month documented the testimony of several ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.
One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.
Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.
“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”
Since then, additional individuals have stepped forward; about 20 people have now stated they were either targets of or witnesses to highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.
The incidents they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.
Changing Stories
The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were not telling the truth.
Commentators have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his responses.
They also point to his failure to sanction a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the comments.
“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.
He went on to say: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have all forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."
Question of Character
“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he has to acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.
“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in society.”
In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.
“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,” she remarked.
Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments
In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.
Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”
He added that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”