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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his past behaviour. He noted that the leader's "evolving" statements had been unconvincing.

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

Further Testimonies Surface

A published report last month documented the statements of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, described that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ 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 about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Since then, more people have stepped forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either targets of or witnesses to deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The incidents they outlined span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were being untruthful.

Observers have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also cite his failure to discipline a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he has to confront the fears of the Jewish people, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

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

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being written in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his stance in an discussion, stating: “Have I said 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 “never directly sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, decades in the past.”