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

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He added that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been less than credible.

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

New Allegations Emerge

A recent investigation last month detailed the testimony of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

Since then, others have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either targets of or saw hurtful actions by Farage.

The behaviour they described span the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

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

They also cite his reluctance to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the comments.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He added: “Claiming that a group of people have somehow misremembered the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he must address the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being written in a particular way to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the release of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an discussion, stating: “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? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly attempted to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a further comment: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”