Attorney General Calls On Reform UK Leader to Apologise Over Alleged Racism and Antisemitism.
The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their years in education.
Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He commented that the politician's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.
“In his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.
Further Testimonies Emerge
A series of inquiries last month detailed the statements of several ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.
One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "came up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.
Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a older Farage.
“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”
After the story broke, others have emerged; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either targets of or witnesses to highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.
The behaviour they described relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.
Denials and Shifting Positions
The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the individuals were being untruthful.
Commentators have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.
They also cite his reluctance to sanction a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the comments.
“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.
He went on to say: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."
Call for Leadership
“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he urgently needs address the fears of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.
“Bigotry in all its forms is anathema to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in politics.”
In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.
“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a specific manner to say something, but also not to say something,” she remarked.
Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments
In legal letters before the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.
Farage later altered his stance in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”
He commented that he had “never directly really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage later put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, decades in the past.”