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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who claim he targeted with racist abuse 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 noted that the leader's "shifting" statements had been less than credible.

“In his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

New Allegations Come to Light

A recent investigation last month documented the testimony of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "came up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil with two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

Following the initial report, more people have come forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either victims of or saw highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

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

Evolving Explanations

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

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

They also point to his inability to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the remarks.

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

He added: “Claiming that a group of people have all misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he has to acknowledge the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would identify as being drafted in a particular way to communicate, 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 legal team stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his position in an interview, stating: “Have I said things decades ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, so long ago.”