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The United Kingdom's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his alleged conduct. He commented that the leader's "evolving" denials had been less than credible.

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

Further Testimonies Surface

A recent investigation last month detailed the statements of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, more people have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either subject to or saw deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were being untruthful.

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

They also point to his inability to discipline a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have somehow forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

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

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

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an appearance, stating: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “never directly really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage later put out a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”