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

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his actions as a youth. He added that the politician's "shifting" explanations had been unconvincing.

“During his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Surface

A series of inquiries last month documented the statements of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour alleged that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That included me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have come forward; about 20 people have now claimed they were either victims of or saw highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted relate to the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were not telling the truth.

Commentators have noted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his responses.

They also cite his inability to sanction a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have all misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he urgently needs confront the anxieties 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 anathema to the standards of this country and we must not permit it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

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

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters before the release of the report, Farage’s legal team stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an interview, saying: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “never directly attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later issued a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”