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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who assert he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been less than credible.

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

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A published report last month detailed the testimony of several ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He came over to a pupil with two tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have come forward; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either victims of or observed hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were misremembering.

Observers have noted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his responses.

They also point to his reluctance to reprimand a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Arguing that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he must confront the concerns of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we must not permit it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

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

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an interview, saying: “Did I say things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, decades in the past.”