Attorney General Urges Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic and Racist Behaviour.

The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his past behaviour. He noted that the leader's "evolving" explanations had been unconvincing.

“In his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

New Allegations Emerge

A recent investigation last month documented the testimony of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old 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 separate times; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either targets of or observed deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

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

Evolving Explanations

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were being untruthful.

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

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

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

He added: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have all forgotten the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he urgently needs confront the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Racism in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It speaks volumes 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 communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence prior to the release of the report, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an discussion, remarking: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”