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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He noted that the leader's "shifting" explanations had been less than credible.

“During his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A published report last month documented the accounts of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, at times making a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, others have come forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either victims of or witnesses to highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were not telling the truth.

Observers have noted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his denials.

They also point to his reluctance to sanction a colleague in his party, 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 evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Claiming that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he has to confront the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

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

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an discussion, stating: “Did I say things as a youth that you could view as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently released a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”