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The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his alleged conduct. He commented that the leader's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

“Throughout his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month documented the statements of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding 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 singled out by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

Since then, more people have emerged; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or saw hurtful actions by Farage.

The incidents they outlined span the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

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

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

They also reference his inability to discipline a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he has to confront the anxieties of the Jewish people, and apologise to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Bigotry in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in society.”

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a certain style to say something, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an appearance, stating: “Did I say things decades ago that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, so long ago.”