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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He noted that the leader's "constantly changing" statements had been unconvincing.

“Throughout his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A recent investigation last month documented the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding 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 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil with two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That included me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, others have emerged; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either targets of or saw deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The alleged events they described relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the individuals were not telling the truth.

Observers have noted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also point to his failure to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the comments.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Arguing that a group of people have somehow forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he urgently needs acknowledge the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered 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 identify as being written in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an discussion, saying: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later released a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”