By Eniola Amadu
The UK’s top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who say the Reform UK leader racially abused them during their school days.
The attorney general for England and Wales, Richard Hermer noted that the Reform leader had inflicted pain on many people based on their accounts of his behaviour, and that his “changing” denials were unpersuasive.
Three of former schoolmates who alleged they saw Nigel Farage’s racist behaviour as a teenager have rejected the Reform UK leader’s description of the claim as “banter”, calling it deliberate, repeated and offensive.
A former pupil, Stefan Benarroch, claimed that people from a Jewish assembly at Dulwich college had been targets of Farage and others for taunts while another schoolmate, Cyrus Oshidar, tagged the claim that the Reform leader did not intend to harm as “rubbish”.
“Being called a Paki isn’t hurtful?” Oshidar asked. The third, Rickard Berg, said to the Guardian: “He’s now in a position where he shouldn’t be denying this. He’s straight up lying.”
In response to the racist allegations on Farage, his aides had said that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.
Hermer, speaking to the Guardian stated that, “Throughout his defensive responses to legitimate questions put to him, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism.”
Following the surge of reports of Farage’s school days, Hermer noted that he considered “Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [to be] unconvincing, to say the least”.
“Arguing that 20 people have somehow all misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible. Throughout his defensive responses to legitimate questions put to him, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism” he added.
In his view, he stated that “If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he urgently needs to address the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour.
“Racism in all its forms is anathema to the values of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in public life.”
The UK chancellor, Rachel Reeves speaking on the issue with the Guardian encouraged the Reform leader to “speak out and say something”.
According to the chancellor, she said: “It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,”.
“He just sits there during PMQs, where people put these things to him, and he hides. He says that he’s a real leader of the opposition. Well, a real leader would speak out and say something. He should explain what he really thinks.”