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The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "evolving" denials had been difficult to believe.

“During his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month outlined the testimony of several ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

“He approached a pupil with two tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have come forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or saw deeply offensive actions by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were not telling the truth.

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

They also point to his failure to discipline a party member, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the statements.

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

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

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he urgently needs address the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in society.”

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

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a particular way to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an interview, stating: “Did I say things decades ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage subsequently released a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, so long ago.”