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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his actions as a youth. He added that the leader's "evolving" explanations had been less than credible.

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

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A published report last month outlined the statements of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That involved me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either subject to or observed hurtful actions by Farage.

The behaviour they outlined span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers were being untruthful.

Observers have pointed out that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.

They also cite his failure to discipline a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the remarks.

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

He went on to say: “Arguing that 20 people have somehow forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he urgently needs address the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Racism in all its forms is abhorrent to the principles of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in public life.”

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

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a certain style to say something, but also not to say something,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his position in an discussion, saying: “Have I said things as a youth that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage later issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”