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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his alleged conduct. He added that the leader's "constantly changing" statements had been less than credible.

“Throughout his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

New Allegations Come to Light

A recent investigation last month outlined the statements of several former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

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

Since then, more people have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either targets of or observed hurtful actions by Farage.

The alleged events they described span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were not telling the truth.

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

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Claiming that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he has to address the anxieties of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Racism in all its forms is anathema to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would identify as being written in a certain style to say something, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters before the release of the report, 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 interview, saying: “Have I said things as a youth that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently released a further comment: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, so long ago.”