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The UK'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 said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been difficult to believe.

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

Fresh Claims Emerge

A recent investigation last month documented the statements of several ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have emerged; around two dozen people have now stated they were either victims of or witnesses to deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

Observers have highlighted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense 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 people of colour she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He continued: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have all forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he must acknowledge the fears of the Jewish people, 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 should not let it to ever become normalised in society.”

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

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being written in a particular way to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an appearance, remarking: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Yes.”

He added that he had “never directly sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”