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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He commented that the politician's "evolving" statements had been less than credible.

“Throughout his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A series of inquiries last month documented the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would approach me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That included me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have come forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or saw deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The alleged events they described span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

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

They also reference his inability to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Arguing that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he must acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

In a other comments, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

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

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an discussion, remarking: “Have I said things as a youth that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”