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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "shifting" denials had been less than credible.

“During his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A published report last month detailed the accounts of over a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That included me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, others have come forward; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either subject to or observed deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The alleged events they described cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were being untruthful.

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

They also reference his failure to sanction a party member, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

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

He added: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he must confront the concerns of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a separate interview, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a certain style to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an interview, stating: “Have I said things decades ago that you could view as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”