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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his alleged conduct. He added that the leader's "shifting" statements had been difficult to believe.

“In his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Emerge

A series of inquiries last month outlined the statements of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil with two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either targets of or observed highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined span the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

Observers have highlighted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

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

He continued: “Suggesting that a group of people have all misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he has to address the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become legitimised in public life.”

In a separate interview, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being written in a certain style to say something, but also not to say something,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “never directly sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage later issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, decades in the past.”