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

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

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

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A recent investigation last month documented the accounts of several former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either victims of or witnesses to hurtful actions by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

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

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

They also cite his reluctance to reprimand a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“His constantly changing story about his behaviour to his peers [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

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

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he has to address the fears of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Bigotry in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being written in a certain style to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an interview, stating: “Have I said things 50 years 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 commented that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently released a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”