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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "shifting" explanations had been less than credible.

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

New Allegations Surface

A recent investigation last month outlined the testimony of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He walked up to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either targets of or witnesses to deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

The incidents they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were not telling the truth.

Critics have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his denials.

They also cite his failure to reprimand a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

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

He went on to say: “Suggesting that a group of people have somehow forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he has to address the fears of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a certain style to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the release of the investigation, Farage’s representatives stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

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

He commented that he had “not ever purposely really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage later issued a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”