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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "evolving" statements had been difficult to believe.

“During his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Emerge

A published report last month documented the accounts of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "came 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 gas showers”.

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 addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That included me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have emerged; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either targets of or observed highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

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

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his statements.

They also cite his reluctance to sanction a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have all misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for high office, he urgently needs address the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously 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 normalised in public life.”

In a separate interview, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would identify as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the release of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led this behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an discussion, saying: “Have I said things decades ago that you could view as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, decades in the past.”