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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his past behaviour. He commented that the politician's "shifting" explanations had been unconvincing.

“Throughout his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Fresh Claims Emerge

A series of inquiries last month outlined the statements of several former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ 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 alleged that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have emerged; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or observed highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

The incidents they outlined relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were misremembering.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his denials.

They also reference his failure to sanction a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

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

He continued: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must address the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Bigotry in all its forms is anathema to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become normalised in public life.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a certain style to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later put out a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, decades in the past.”