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The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader 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, based on their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He commented that the leader's "evolving" statements had been less than credible.

“During his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Come to Light

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

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, more people have emerged; around two dozen people have now stated they were either victims of or observed deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The behaviour they described span the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were misremembering.

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

They also point to his reluctance to sanction a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He went on to say: “Arguing that 20 people have all forgotten the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he urgently needs address the fears of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the principles of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in public life.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to appear as a true statesman.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a certain style to say something, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He added that he had “never directly attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently released a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”