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The United Kingdom's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He noted that the leader's "constantly changing" denials had been unconvincing.

“During his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A recent investigation last month outlined the testimony of several ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

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

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Since then, others have emerged; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either targets of or witnesses to deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

Critics have pointed out that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his responses.

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he has to acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

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 guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a particular way to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an discussion, saying: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “never directly attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, decades in the past.”