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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He commented that the politician's "constantly changing" explanations had been less than credible.

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

New Allegations Surface

A recent investigation last month outlined the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "came up to 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 alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either targets of or saw highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were being untruthful.

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his responses.

They also reference his inability to sanction a party member, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

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

He added: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he has to address the fears of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Racism in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become accepted in public life.”

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a particular way to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the report, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

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

He commented that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently released 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.”